O Desejo Mais Profundo
by Van the Key of Lain
Summary: Because we all have that one deep desire... the one we keep to ourselves, and never share... the one we feel so much joy, yet so much guilt for having; for needing; for craving. What happens though, when that desire suddenly becomes real? [Obvious pairings are obvious... unless they're not.]
1. Interium

A/N: Hello all, and welcome to my first Psychonauts up taking. I played the game years ago, and up until only recently, me and my fiance got back to it and actually beat said game - our interest in it renewed due to us working together on a project. Thus I've been driven into the world of Psychonauts beyond the games; that of the arts and stories I found. So when my mind started coming up with my own ideas for stories... I couldn't really say 'No' to it.

And now you're going to suffer along with me and endeavor this (and hopefully other) adventurous a tale involving our favorite psychics. Our, well, most of my favorites, anywho. So enough rambling. I'll get on with it. Really hope you guys enjoy the ride with me.

**Warning:** This fic is rated M for Mature. Contains themes of violence, sexual tension and/or innuendo, language, and mental trauma.

**Disc:** I do not own Psychonauts. That honor belongs to Tim Schafer. If I did, however, we'd all have gotten Psychonauts 2, played, loved and beaten it, and be anticipating Psychonauts 3 later this year in April.

* * *

O Desejo Mais Profundo

_'The mind is a terrible thing to waste.' That being said, then why is it that everyday, minds are being continuously wasted?_

_Oh yes, there are those who chose to advance their education, going to college, getting careers that shape their minds for tasks of grandeur more prominent than that of learning how to flip a hamburger. They think to themselves that they are doing something with their lives, and alternatively their brains, and that they are contributing more to society by doing so._

_I, however, see this as rubbish. They are no better than those individuals who sit at home all day long watching TV, or wasting hours upon their computers doing such trivial things involving the internet._

_Society expects individuals to grow, learn and evolve to better mankind, and in turn, better society. Yet, society is what is wasting these minds! Society is the problem here, because what it can not understand is that, while yes, a man receiving a degree from harvard has shaped his mind for a higher purpose... all that man did was learn._

_Learning is a basic function of the brain._

_It is growth of the brain that is being denied! This is the failing of society to see the difference between what is, and what can be._

_However, society placed limits and statues on what individuals can do in order to achieve this growth... thus stunting that growth entirely._

_I find it ridiculous that what needs to be done in order for humanity as a whole to grow beyond its limits, can not be done based on the ideology of morals and moral value._

_History has shown time and time again that when true progress is actually being made in the advancement of humanity, it gets shut down as soon as it is brought to light. So many trials wasted._

_This has not, and will not, be the case with myself. Our trials and studies have proven so many great things about our minds and brains... theories and ideas only thought fantasy have opened up to us. I've documented everything progressive in every case we've taken on._

_However, for now, no light can be shed here. Perhaps in the future to come, we can come out from the dark and share our research with the rest of the world. For now, we must remain behind the veil._

_We are to being a new trial in three days. I am not sure what results to expect with this particular trial; lending itself to a more mundane area of study and one that has even fewer subjects that meet the required criteria. Surely it shall lead to some promising results, though only if we take some veritable course corrections within this scenario._

Trial 16-72: R  
Section: Marriage and Family  
Subsection: Child/Parental Bonds  
Operations: Program A2, A5, B4, B6, C5, {D,E,F}[All] R4, S6, and T7 (variable n random)  
Extra parameters: Subject Psychological Profile, extrapolate/modify

True Values; Non-negotiable:

W1: Patient is exposed(placed) to deepest desire.  
W2: Patient must accept desire is, in fact, reality.  
W3: Refer and Enforce Week Two.  
W4: Patient undergoes loss of reality.

Trial time expectancy: One month  
SRTV

_I will be updating this trial's log with a number of additional imposed questions if for sheer experimentation with a few personal queries and ideas of what can happen between times of peace and stress, joy and sorrow, and ultimately measuring the mentality of a mother's bond between child, and how it becomes affected when faced with loss of said child. There will be three separate subjects for this trial. One subject will be conducted and monitored under my personal team._

_- S. Monroe._

xxxxxx

The jarring blare of an alarm clock sounded throughout the small room it occupied; the sound bouncing off the walls created an echo effect that could have woken the dead. This digital cry only lasted a few seconds before a heavy hand fell upon the device, silencing it.

A mass of bedsheets and blankets shifted, the hand slowly sinking back under the piled fort. A disgruntled murmuring slipping out from beneath the fabrics. A defeated sigh followed and the figure beneath the covers pushed up; fort toppling.

It was five in the morning.

Razputin Aquato glared at the mocking red LED display on the clock. He hated being up so early. Yet there was nothing to be done about it. The boy stumbled his way of out bed, using up the ten minutes of leeway he'd given himself in order to get ready before he had to leave; and that was way too soon.

Get up at five; meet up with the gang at five-thirty, to get to the airport at six, get on a plane at seven, to get to their destination at eleven, to arrive and make a meeting by two.

Raz rubbed his face and wondered how the other members of the crew fared this early of an hour. He could imagine Lili being a bit the same as he; tired and grumpy for not getting enough 'beauty sleep.' Though that last part she'd probably only admit in her head, and he would admit to himself that she wouldn't need to sleep for her beauty.

Sasha would be tired, but wouldn't show it; and would most likely already have a half drunk cup of coffee from a local vendor or fast food joint. Most likely his second cup of the morning... and maybe a smoke. Raz shrugged. He never really got the whole smoking thing. Yes, he knew for some it was a vice; helped with nerves and other such things. For others it was a peer pressure and rebellious thing. Some few a mere fashion statement. Raz didn't really care either way. He didn't plan on ever picking up the habit... he already had his own vice of assorted sodas and rich candied goods.

Milla... Raz paused. Milla was one of those people who you were pretty sure you could figure out everything about her after spending on day around her. Yet, Raz knew this wasn't entirely the case. He'd seen a side of Milla most of the public never saw. Granted, he'd been a Psychonaut for six years now, so this was one of the many privileges that came with working with who you've known for so long; that you got to see sides of people you normally would not.

Not always good, not always bad. Just another part of a person that made them human.

All this musing however did nothing to alleviate the fact that it was now five twenty and he was still miserably tired. With one last look around his room; going over a mental checklist of everything he'd need for the trip, Raz gave a huff as he grabbed up his suitcase and headed out the door.

xxxxxx

"If he's not here in five minutes, I'm going to pound him into next week! It's too early for this crap!"

Lili Zanotto was not amused.

It was five fifty in the morning. The group was suppose to leave in ten minutes to go to the airport. They were running a tight schedule, and if they arrived late to the meeting...well, nothing catastrophic would happen really, but it would make the US branch of the Psychonauts look really bad.

"Don't stress, Darling. Razputin will be here any moment now."

Lili turned slightly towards the taller woman, giving her a look that seems to say _'Yeah, I know, but I still wanna pout.'_

"He's always doing this. I thought we were the only ones allowed to be fashionably late?"

Milla gave a small chuckle at this, followed by the young Zanatto. Over the last few years, Lili had sprouted up a bit from the tiny girl she'd been, and was blossoming into an attractive and feisty young woman. She still sported the look of a girl who enjoyed mixing girlish styles with dangerous themes...

Knee high boots with zippers; short skirts with mixes of color and flash; tops cut at the right angles with some various art scrawled on it - usually some band name or some brand of clothing catering to the eclectic, goth or punk masses. Bangles, bracelets, fingerless gloves. A choker. The same mahogany locks of hair; pigtailed; now trailed down her back almost to her rear; a small streak of blue or black could be found mixed in.

All this was the image of the fourteen year old Lili Zanatto.

"I highly doubt the representatives at the conference would be so inclined to give any accommodation of our tardiness towards fashion." Came a subdued response.

Milla turned towards her partner and smirked.

"That is because those bureaucrats only ever wear the same suit and tie day in and day out. Fashion is about more than just one sharp outfit in a closet, darling."

Sasha's expression appeared to remained neutral, though he'd paused in his action of taking a sip of his coffee; pulling it away from his lips just slightly.

"Are you saying I'm not fashionable?"

Milla was about to respond with a teasing mock hurt comment when a sudden shout caused the group to halt and turn towards the owner of the voice; which was currently moving towards them in leaps and bounds.

"I'm here! I'm coming! Sorry for the delay!" Raz shouted as he made his way quickly towards the group.

He stopped short of them; bending over to catch some of his breath.

"What the hell, Raz!? It's six fifty-five! We're going to be late to the airport!" Lili stomped a boot onto the pavement; her hands resting on her hips.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I sorta... got lost? Hehe...but, hey, I'm here now, so we can get going!"

"How do you- ugh, nevermind." Lili sighed.

The girl then grabbed ahold of Raz's arm and began to drag him over towards the vehicle meant to take them to the airport.

"I wish we could have taken the jet instead of a public plane." The boy muttered as the group got into the car.

"Agreed. The jet would have indeed been more adequate for this kind of travel." Sasha replied, fastening the passenger side seat belt as he spoke.

"Unfortunately, it is still undergoing extensive repairs from the Johannesburg case."

"Really? That was like, two months ago."

"Don't stress about it, darling. The jet will be fixed up eventually, and up and running again. In the meantime, a plane trip isn't going to kill you; either of you." Milla grinned back at Raz through the rearview mirror, then to her partner sitting next to her.

The car roared to life, and began to make its departure. It was time this 'mission' got onto the road.

xxxxxx

Raz felt as if his body were melting as he sank into the seat assigned to him aboard the plane. It was a lot comfier than he imagined it would be. Then again, it could just that he was dog tired and wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next four hours. However, this fantasy was shot down as he remembered Sasha telling him that both Lili and himself were going to be briefed on the topic of the Psychonaut conference their group would be attending.

The younger agent fiddled with the button on the arm of his seat as he waited, some what impatiently, for Lili and Milla to cram their bags into the overhead storage compartments. He wondered idly why the heck both women felt the need to have two bags of luggage for clothes. Did not they tell him to pack light because they'd only be gone for a week? Three of those days being stuck in the conference to boot. The boy rolled his eyes. All he had with him was his backpack with enough items he considered acceptable and had been able to simply shove that under his seat. Hell, even Sasha had packed less than he did! Looking under the other's seat, Raz noted the only bag Sasha had carried on was his a bag for a laptop; also placed under his seat.

Raz paused mid drum of his fingers, eyes snapping up at the man sitting in front of him.

Wait… if that was all he had… then was he already wearing the only clothes he had?

Raz made a face at that; but was suddenly given a look as the subject of his scrutiny peered up from the folder he'd been looking over.

_'Milla is forcing me to purchase a few sets of clothes while we are there.'_

Raz's eyes widened. Had he said something out loud? Sasha gave the boy a tiny smirk.

_'Your mental defenses don't seem to care for early mornings either.'_

_'I..ah.. sorry; wasn't trying to be rude...just...rambling thoughts?'_

"Okay! Finally!" Lili suddenly shouted in a small bout of triumph.

The girl then wiggled her way past Raz, to sit down in the seat next to his. Milla mirrored the girl by sitting in the seat opposite her and next to her partner.

"So, is this something special for planes, 'cause I've never seen planes with seats facing other seats before." Raz wondered aloud.

"For certain types of planes, such as the bigger international airliners, this is a bit standard. A lot of business is discussed on planes by corporate heads, so it maintains the business partner appreciatory aspect." Sasha spoke as he pulled out three identical folders to the one he was already glossing over.

He handed over a folder to each of the others, moving right to the point of their trip. Raz flipped open the folder, scanning over the documents in them. It wasn't some outrageous crazy villain bent on world domination, nor was it some madman stealing brains or using his psychic powers to enslave humanity. It was, however, still a disturbing thing to see and read about.

"As you know, the conference we are attending will be addressing the widespread terrorist attacks that have been occurring since January; though I use the term 'terrorist' loosely here." Sasha spoke evenly.

"Why? It's an attack on people, isn't it?" Lili said, looking up from her folder.

The young girl frowned. Seeing things like this in papers; it made her a bit sick to her stomach. Humanity could be such an ugly creature sometime; to attack itself just for the sake of saying 'You're wrong, I'm right!' or 'You're different so you must be punished.'

"Sasha has the impression these attacks aren't meant as terrorist attacks, darling. For one thing, they've been targeting both psychics and non psychics alike. For another; there is never any demands made, no threats of action or retaliation, and no evidence to support that these attacks are meant to terrorize the citizens or government. Though, of course, people are getting scared." Milla said softly.

"People are also disappearing. Whenever there is an attack and the dust settles, there is always one or two people missing from the area. It took about a month for people to catch on to this recurring detail." Sasha said curtly.

Raz though Sasha sounded almost bitter about this. Then again, he probably was. This could be what the older agent considered 'sloppy investigating' for it to have taken the police that long to realize people were disappearing.

"So… then it's starting to sound like… some kind of mass kidnapping ring."

"Exactly what I was thinking." The older psychonaut gave a nod to the boy.

"But what for?" Raz narrowed his eyes, thinking it over.

"Looking at the reports of all the reportedly missing people since late January, you can see there is no discrimination towards those being taken. Men, women and children of all ages and ethnicity are seen here."

"Anti-racist kidnappers. Wonderful." Lili snorted, the snark comment dripping of sarcasm and a promise to kick this group of people snatchers square in the balls.

A stewardess stopped by just then, asking each of them if they'd care for any refreshments. Once the groups order was taken, she politely excused herself and hurried along to the next group. Raz had to lean over Lili to confirm that they had indeed already taken off and were high up enough to get up out of their seat if need be.

"So then why call it terrorist attacks at all? Isn't that just going to confuse people and create widespread panic?" Raz turned back towards the older pair.

"Because the government is a bunch of-"

"They feel it necessary to use such a drastic tactic in hopes of elevating the seriousness of the attacks, pushing it to the top of a long list of serious threats that need to be dealt with. It's there way of… securing a priority standpoint." Milla smoothed over.

"That's playing dirty." Lili sneered at that.

"That's politics." Sasha grunted.

The conversation went on for a while longer, pointing out further details about what the conference was going to cover, the thoughts the older agents had about the attacks and how they might go about investigating them. During this time the stewardess had brought them their drinks and a few assortments of packaged peanuts and crackers.

Raz knew he was not going to enjoy sitting in during the conference. It was going to be six hours of listening to people talk, '_bitching really._.' about their problems and why no one had done anything about it before and what they will be doing about it now. The only saving grace about all this was that even though it was going to be a three day conference, the days would be spread apart.

Today, Monday, would be the first meeting. Then Tuesday the group would have to themselves. Wednesday a meeting, Thursday free, Friday would be the last meeting and Saturday they would be leaving for home. So at least the monotony would be broken up by doing...something fun, yes? Milla and Lili had bounced off some ideas for what they could all do on the off days. Some of the ideas sounded like a lot of fun; some sounded a little dull; yet much more promising than the conference. Raz spared a glance towards his mentor during this point.

Sasha didn't seem moved by any of it.

Raz half rolled his eyes. That was par for the course with Sasha. The only time the man actually looked interested in anything was when he was in his lab performing some kind of experiment… though he did seem to enjoy the times of the training exercises. Raz smirked a little. Sasha was all about the thrill of a challenge. Granted, this thrill wasn't the vocal or expressive thrill one would get if, oh, you were riding a roller coaster, but hey, to each his own.

A small yawn pulled Raz out of his thoughts and he glanced towards Lili.

"I think I'm gonna catch some 'z's while I can." She gave him a small smile.

"I think I like your idea and will steal it for my own." Raz grinned back at her, as the girl just rolled her eyes but gave him a playful punch on the arm.

She then proceeded to rest her head on the begoggled boys shoulder, a hummed murmur escaping her lips. Raz settled a bit more into the chair and rested his own head against the top of hers gently. Ten minutes later and both were passed out; snoozing soundly.

Milla looked up from the plane wrinkled magazine she been glossing over and found the picture that greeted her to be one of the most adorable things she'd seen in a while. She cursed her fortune that her camera was stowed away in her luggage. However, the longer she stared at them, the more the hypnotic suggestion to grab her own little catnap became more appealing. Setting the magazine down on the small coffee table between the four seats, and glanced over to her partner.

Sasha seemed engrossed in a science journal magazine from what she could see of the cover. Though the way the people on the cover were dressed suddenly reminded her of something. She smiled and settled back into her seat; looking at him out of the corner of her eye. A small hint of deviousness crept into her thoughts.

If Sasha noticed, he didn't say anything. He merely sat there, eyes glued to the page; taking a swig from a small cup of coffee.

_'So, I was thinking something in plaid?'_

Sasha emitted what could only be considered the cross between a choke and a snort into the cup of coffee.

Milla had to cover her mouth to stop the grin that wanted to spread across her face, and hold herself as still as possible so her shoulders wouldn't shake from the complete giggle fit she was desperately trying to quell. Sasha turned towards Milla, with what the woman knew had to be inspiration to the phrase 'if looks could kill.' She could also feel the barest flicker of what felt like hatred, not towards herself, but the mere idea of what she suggested.

_'I'm joking, darling! I would never seriously ask that of you. You need to loosen up.'_

Sasha's fixed gaze didn't waver from the other, almost as if he didn't believe her. After a moment however, he turned back to the magazine and seemed to let go of some small bit of tension he been holding onto.

_'If you had your way you'd have me in polyester suits with flared cuffs and possibly bellbottoms.'_ Sasha's expression shifted ever so slightly from the neutral mask he normally held to that of thinking of something unpleasant.

_'Oh you know you could work it, baby. Though I could just as easily pick up one of those flashy Mariachi outfits.'_

_'Are you deliberately trying to irritate me?'_

_'I am trying to get you to loosen up. I don't know what's making you so tense; what's got you so lost in thought?'_

_'And why do you feel I am 'lost in thought?''_

_'Darling, you've been reading the same page for ten minutes.'_ Milla gave him a look that clearly said she knew how he worked.

Sasha gave an audible sigh, though a small one, and gently leaned forward to place the magazine upon the same coffee table Milla had tossed her onto moments previous.

_'It's not just one thing; it's a number of things.'_

_'Like? Sasha, darling, why haven't you said anything to me? You always come to me to be your soundboard.'_

_'Not always.'_

_'Almost always. I know you prefer to keep most of your ideas and thoughts to yourself, but you have come to me on several occasions regarding something that ends up bugging you… and I'm referring to all the non work related matters here.'_

Sasha remained silent for a moment before responding.

_'Right now is not the best time. I would rather discuss this after the conference talks.'_

Milla gave her partner a look; one that implied he was attempting to dodge talking about whatever was pestering him.

_'I am not avoiding the issue. I merely would rather-'_

_'Alright, darling. I won't bug you about it until after this week is over; but you need to promise me to lighten up a little; let your hair down a bit, Mister.'_

_'I'll do what I can.'_

_'Fair enough.'_ Milla gave him a smile.

Stretching for a moment, Milla settled back into her seat a bit.

_'I'm going to get a little catnap in. If the stewardess comes by again I don't need anything.'_

Sasha nodded, looking back over the files in his folder. He'd read them numerous times already; front to back, left to right. Each time he thought there might be a single detail he'd missed before, that would jump out at him and provide some significant identity or motive as to why these 'attacks' were happening and for what purpose. However, the longer he looked over the papers, the more the words began to blur and blend together.

He felt a sudden, though familiar, weight and warmth upon his shoulder. He shifted his gaze from the papers in front of him to his right; knowing what to expect. Milla had propped herself a bit against the seat, and a bit against himself. This was commonplace with them; had been for a number of years now. Sasha briefly reflected on the time she'd first used his shoulder as a headrest. He'd tensed up, and not wishing to disturb her - as she'd been through one hell of a tiring day that mission - he remained as still as possible; a not moved an inch until she'd woken up herself.

His back had been stiff the rest of the night after that. Yet it happened more often as missions began ranking up under their belts. Then there were time times she would loop her arms with his; still did that on an almost daily basis. There were also the few times when missions would send them to some swanky party and the two would have to blend in; the few times he'd actually danced with her without being coaxed into doing so. It had been for the mission, of course. Yet part of him knew those few times the woman treasured above all; though she'd never said it aloud. He just knew.

Milla Vodello… was something...altogether unclassifiable. An enigma of a woman, surely. Through the years, Sasha had seen so many sides of his partner, and yet he was certain there were still a few left yet to see.

Some of those, if not all, he was sure he never would.

It drove him crazy - though he'd never let on it did - but to know there was still a puzzle to solve or a riddle to figure out; yet knew it wasn't yours to do so with… it would be like walking into someone else lab and trying to run their experiment; without permission or direction. It still didn't alleviate the truth that it was infuriating. Perhaps the only part of himself willing to admit that, yes, he was being childish, and yes, he wanted to be the one to see these remaining sides.

Yet, maybe… hypothetically speaking… in all improbable likelihood… if there could be a way-

No. No and No. No, no, no. Just no.

Why?

God that question. So simple and so powerful at the same time. It was the question that got him into trouble all his life; got him right where he was now; how he thought, how he lived his life, how he acted.

'Why?' Always 'Why?'

'Why' do things work this way? Why don't we try this? Why can't this be perfected?

Why, why, why…

Why could he not admit? Why was he afraid?

Afraid of what exactly? His image being tarnished? His dignity being disgraced? His ego kicked?

Or was it deeper? A fear of… rejection? A fear of being so very wrong about… all these… mixed signals, coincidences, that touch more affectionate undertones, fussing and fawning.

Reading too much into something not there. Because… he wanted there to be something?

Sasha shifted ever so slightly back into his seat; his jaw clenched as he zero'd in on a particularly deep train of thought he tried to avoid when he was out in public. Avoid most of the time, really. Yet he was just as human as anyone else… and what had he spouted off to Razputin the very day the boy arrived at camp?

"_If you try to completely suppress your undesirable feelings, they'll build and build and eventually explode."_

Ah. Right.

A tap on the shoulder jolted him out of his thoughts; he could almost hear the mental slamming of a door to a room he was not meant to peek into. It also felt like his heart was beating just a little bit more quickly than it had been.

However, his outward appearance showed nothing of his currently mental state and he merely looked up to the source of the tap to his shoulder. It was the stewardess again.

"I'm sorry, Sir; I thought you were awake, I didn't mean to wake you up-"

"It is alright, I was merely… lost in thought."

"Oh, okay. I was just going to ask if you'd like another drink or any more snacks."

He mulled it over a moment. Coffee at this point seemed unappealing, and soda, while not his first choice, had caffeine. Juice didn't.

"What clear caffeinated beverages do you have?"

"We have Sprite, Ginger-Ale, and Seltzer-water." The woman smiled in reply; acting as if she'd heard this same question a hundred times before.

"I'll have the Ginger-Ale, thank you."

She passed him a chilled can from her cart.

"Would you like me to leave you a drink for your wife?"

"A Sprite, thank you."

Milla had said she wouldn't want anything for now, but Sasha knew she's appreciate the drink for later.

Once the woman had passed him the second can, she gave him a nod and proceeding onwards to give out refreshments to other passengers. Sasha had just popped the tab to his drink when what the stewardess had said completely registered. He paused. As it sunk in, it wasn't the shock of the girl mistaking Milla as his wife that surprised him; nor was it the idea of thinking that Milla could, and had on a handful of missions, play the part of his wife, but simply over the fact…

It had been so incredibly easy to accept. It had felt so natural. It felt… nice? No, too plain. Good? Better, but not by much.

A small smirk came to his lips as he leaned his head back against the seat.

'_Wunderbar.'_

~ x ~

* * *

A/N: Okay.. so there you go. Apologizes over the fact I've updated/edited this like, four times now. First few were grammar; but then I had to dial back a couple of years; I'm writing this fic out with certain ages and mind and jump then too far. I've got like, three different story ideas in my head, all at various times, so it got a little mixed up. Anywho, problem solved.


	2. Arrival

Was trying to get this out before Valentines was over. Oh well. Let's git!

* * *

_A gentle breeze drifted lazily over the surreal landscape; one you'd swear couldn't possibly be real, yet is was. A gorgeous field of long summer grass swaying with the wind; vibrant and lush. Off in the far reaches of the horizon towered a great mountain chain; colors of blue, grey, and white; mixing harmoniously with the meadow of green. Truly a most stunning sight to behold; and so very real, she knew. _

_She just wished she could remember where she'd seen it before. It had become the backdrop to her most deeply buried dream, and she could not remember from where it had been inspired._

"_What if the other kids laugh at me?"_

_Her thoughts were pulled away from the world about her, and her attention turned to the little girl sitting in her lap._

"_Why do you think they'd laugh at you, sweetheart? They too will have abilities as well."_

_She picked up the brush she held in her hand, and resumed brushing the little girl's long ebony locks._

"_What if they think my power is stupid?!'"_

_A laugh escaped her lips and she set the brush aside; pulling the little girl to stand up with her._

"_How can anyone think what you do is stupid, darling? I think it's one of the best powers to have!'"_

_The little girl rolled her eyes; a flicker of mischievousness flashed behind vibrant green orbs._

"_You're just saying that 'cause its your power, too!"_

"_Of course! Who doesn't wish they could fly?"_

_With this, she stepped back a few paces, and kicked off the grass with the grace of a swan; levitating about the world beneath her, moving as if she was meant to be one with the wind. The little girl giggled, giving a laugh of her own. She broke into a short run, followed by a somersault, and a jumping spring up; twirling in the air like a figure skater. Yet the little girl didn't descend to the ground. Instead she threw out her hands._

_Grabbing the little one's hands, she spun them both in the air; laughing without a care in the world, before slowly bringing them back down to earth; hugging the girl close; so very close._

"_I love you, Mama."_

"_I love you too, sweetheart. More than you could possibly imagine."_

The world suddenly jarred; going black, and all at once, Milla awoke.

xxxxxx

The plane touched down upon the runway, causing the engines to roar as they kicked in the reverse rotation. Touchdowns were usually a little bumpy, and as a result, it had jarred the three slumbering members of the group to awaken rather abruptly.

"No Mr. Peanut!" Raz shouted as he jerked forward slightly in his seat.

Lili grumbled next to him; rubbing her face.

"The hell? Who's Mr. Peanut?" She asked in a slightly sleep voice, a grin forming on her lips.

"Ah.. heh, one of the elephants in our circus." Raz muttered sheepishly.

"How original." The teen girl grinned even more.

"Hey, I didn't name it!"

Raz stretched in his seat and glanced around the plane; taking note of the other passengers rustling around; a low enter ague of murmurs and a feeling of relief and excitement radiated about the aircraft. He peered out the window, watching as the plane taxied its way towards the terminal. At this point the overhead speaker dinged and the pilot began to give a speech; one Raz was sure the man had recited a hundred time or more.

The plane came to a stop; and after a few more minutes of waiting, the all clear signal was given. People all over the air craft popped up at once; working their way out of the plane row by row; some taking a few minutes to grab their overhead luggage. Lili being one of those people. Raz grabbed up his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. Hooray for convenience.

Looking ahead, the teen noted the line was picking up speed. Glancing back towards his companions, he idly watched Lili play around his her suitcase, while Sasha helped Milla with her own luggage; the two passing one another glances as if having some unspoken conversation.

Which, duh, was totally a thing between psychics.

'_Hey._' Raz turned his gaze towards Lili; who was standing a bit in front of him.

The girl turned her head back a little; eying from the side.

'_What?'_

'_Have you ever wondered why we don't just talk to each other like this all the time?'_

The girl paused, thinking, then looked back to him.

'_Not really, but, I think it has to do with the idea that not all psychics are capable of doing it. Like, when we were kids, you could hear my thoughts but I couldn't hear yours that well.'_

_'True... still, those of us who can do it; why don't we just do it all the time? We wouldn't have to worry about people hearing our conversations, and we wouldn't have to yell in crowds.'_

_'There's probably a pretty good reason why no one does it all the time.'_

_'You're right, darling. There is actually quite a few good reasons it's not practical for constant use.'_

Lili and Raz looked up over at Milla, somewhat surprised. The older agent pivoted on her heels, so she was looking at both the teens.

"Just like with any muscle, if you overuse it, you will wear it down and can damage it if you're not careful. Not only that, but it's not as fool-proof as you think it to be."

"What do you mean?" Raz questioned.

The line before their group cleared, and the four of them began to shuffle their way out of the plane.

"Imagine you were making a phone call to someone from your house, using a household phone. Now think about what would happen if someone else in either home picked up another phone in another room." Sasha spoke up, yet not turning to look at them.

Raz thought a moment. Something similar like that had happened once or twice a the Psychonauts HQ office. He'd accidentally knocked a phone receiver off it's cradle, and when he went to pick it up, he'd heard voices on the line. He wasn't sure how, though, he just knew that it would be rude to eavesdrop. He'd hung it up quickly enough, but not without hearing something that had made him want to roll on the floor and laugh his ass off.

"Yeah, all they'd hear is me and whoever I'm talking to."

"Exactly. It's that possibility that exist even on the mental plane; and those with weak or no mental shields could easily have their conversations listened in upon."

"Well, that makes a weird sort of sense." The boy nodded.

Their conversation came to a close as they now stepped into the terminal of the airport; moving away from the crowd of peoples going this way and that. Everywhere were advertisements for local restaurants, sightseeing, dancing, and other recreational activities. Raz's attention was pulled away from all the advertising when he felt a surge of, what had to be, unfathomable glee and turned towards the source.

Milla Vodello, the Mental Minx, one half of the super star secret agent elite team of the U.S branch of Psychonauts; was bouncing up and down on the heels of her shoes completely besides herself. She was darting from window to window, saying greetings to almost everyone she came across, and seeming to dance to an entirely different rhythm than anything the boy had ever know her move to.

She reminded Raz of a nine year old on Christmas. She reminded Lili of a three pound Chihuahua on coffee. The two look at one another and almost doubled over in giggle fits. Sasha, standing just behind the two youths, prodded them both forward with a gentle nudge of telekinesis.

"Alright you two; calm down. Agent Vodello is merely... excited about being here."

"Excited is finding ten bucks on the ground. This is borderline hysterical."

"I've never seen her so... she's like a hummingbird in a shoebox!"

Sasha shook his head; stepping passed them as he did. He turned slightly back towards them, yet before he could tell them exactly why Milla was beyond happy, he felt her sudden presence by his side and a hand grabbing a hold of his wrist. He turned back to face her.

"Come on, darling! Let's hurry! I want to get out of this silly airport and explore the town before the conference!"

"If you wish, though I don't believe we have the -_ TIME_!" Sasha began elegantly; only to be sudden yanked forward, and thus quickly dragged towards what he assumed was the nearest exit.

Raz and Lili collected themselves, and took off after the other two.

"Agent Vodello, this is no time for - watch out! Would you please - _MILLA_!"

Milla just laughed, tugging the other along with her, as they raced down the hall. She turned back to give him a slightly mischievous look; though it was completely playful in nature.

"What's wrong darling? Is it too much to ask that you have a little fun?"

Running through the airport like a couple of children didn't exactly denote 'fun' in his book. Then again, his idea of 'fun' probably wasn't what anyone else would denote as such either. No, the only thing this was doing was giving him a mild headache. That and jarring loose a memory much similar to this. It wasn't the last time they'd been at an airport, rather it was the first time they'd arrive at one.

Knee-high boots clacked on the ground followed closely by loafers as she dragging them onwards. The sound bouncing off the linoleum floor; the sound echoing not just down the hallway, but in his mind.

_Highheels clacked down the hallway followed by the heavy hit of steel toed boots; a melodious laugh trailing with it. This chick was crazy, but in a good way. She was sassy and fun, humble and polite, and a constant challenge in an otherwise boring world._

_"Loosen up, baby! Let's have a little fun! I thought you had a competitive spirit?"_

_"Hard to have one when no one comes close to your level."_

_"Oooh, conceited aren't we?"_

_"Not at all; just a solid truth."_

_"Okay Mr. I'm-all-that-and-a-bag-of-tortillas-"_

_"Chips."_

_"Let's have a race, shall we? Who ever wins-"_

_"Racing is a waste of time! We're here on business!"_

_"Okay then, you take your time, and I'll be waiting for you outside, darling!"_

_She let his wrist go and began to make a speedy haste. He had no idea why she felt it so necessary to act so frivolous...but like hell he was going to let her just get away with thinking she'd won their sort of mental battle of wits. He picked up his pace, and was soon overtaking her. The look of shock and awe was enough of a prize in itself; and he felt a cocky toothy grin spread across his face._

_In turn she just smiled; a mischievous look dancing behind her emerald eyes and tried to close the gap._

_The two turned a tight corner, eliciting shouts from a few people they'd almost run into. It wasn't until Sasha saw the escalator, and had to jar to a halt to prevent himself from tumbling down it. He spun on his heel; his face contorting into one of panic when she too realized the danger. The girl collided with him; and they fell forward. With a few quick movements and discreet use of mental power on both their parts; they tumbled down to the lower level without much damage. _

_After a moment, Milla propped herself up from where she'd landed atop him. Her face was flushed and she she couldn't help the sheepish smile on her lips._

_"I think this counts as a tie, yes?" She laughed lightly._

_Sasha pushed himself up a bit about to make a witty retort, but he bit back the comment when the girl suddenly hissed in pain. She shifted carefully, moving off him so he was no longer pinned to the floor. Milla bit her lip and brought a hand to her left ankle. She winced as she applied pressure; she must have twisted it and not realized. She turned towards her partner, to offer an apologetic smile; but stopped short as she saw his expression, or lack there of. His 'mask', as she liked to call it, was back in place. Wordlessly he righted himself up onto his feet only to then turn around and kneel. Milla understood what he was doing, and carefully shifted her arms around his shoulders._

_Lifting them both up, he silently started forward again; ignoring pretty much everything around them and heading straight to the exit._

_"I'm sorry, darling. I was just trying to have you cheer up a little."_

_"This is why I don't 'do' fun, Agent Vodello." He replied sharply._

_"Because someone always ends up hurt."_

Milla came to a quick halt as the two reached a balcony railing. She'd let go of Sasha's wrist a moment prior and was now gripping the railing. Sasha was attempting to regain his breath, along with whatever dignity had been dragged out of him. He adored her, yes, but good God could she ever be such a pain in his -

He righted himself suddenly; in response to recollecting his outer image, but also in reigning in his jumbled thoughts. He felt the tinge of panic wash through him, but calmed upon seeing Milla wasn't paying him any attention. She was too focused on the images beyond the large glass windows and entrance doors to have caught anything less than an outright scream in her ear.

Raz and Lili came up to them then, both of them also looking a bit worn for wear.

"What the hell, guys?! No one said we were going to run a marathon!" Lili balked.

"Yeah, what's the big idea? Aren't we suppose to be relaxing and saving our stamina for the conference; ya know, so we don't fall asleep through it?" Raz smirked.

At this point, Milla turned towards her three team members, looking ever so apologetic, yet eager at the same time.

"I am so sorry, darlings, I just… I can not express to you how excited I am to be here! Come, come! Take a look outside! This is just a small peak at what you are about to see on a much larger scale!" She waved the two smaller agents over towards the balcony.

As the two teens walked forwards, their eyes fell upon the sight before them, and they were in awe. It also suddenly clicked in their minds exactly why Milla was so exuberant and they felt a little silly for completely missing the obvious. They simply smiled to one another and then turned back to look out over the gorgeous scene that laid before them; one that promised an even beautifuller view once they moved beyond the walls of the airport.

Milla moved to stand slightly behind them, and draped an arm around each of them, as she leaned in, and whispered excitedly.

"Bem vindo ao Sao Paulo!"

xxxxxx

Sao Paul, Brazil was indeed a marvel of a place to the two young teens. It was like and unlike anything they'd seen before. Massive skyscrapers towered along the cityscape; an impressive cathedral, a breathtaking park and some 'crazy schwank bridge', Raz's words, that Milla said was absolutely astounding to see at night.

From the time they'd left Guarulhos International, the two youths had their faces pressed right up to the glass of the company car they'd be provided; listening to Milla go on and on about this place, or that place, or how old that was or that placed served the best cuisine. Even as they reached the hotel they'd be staying in for the week, Milla continued to prattle on about whatever came to the foremost of her mind. For the most part, she was thrilled to have a captivated audience listen to her going on about the rich culture she grew up in and around when she was a young girl.

However, as they reached their rooms, her cultural lesson came to a close, and the four figures filed into the room Sasha had opened just a moment ago.

"Whoa… pretty cushy digs! This is sweet!" Raz gave a whistle and hopped up onto the closest bed of the two in the room.

"Eh, I've seen more impressive, but we're talking apples to watermelons. This is a pretty nice room." Lili let he suitcase fall to the floor, flopping down into a large plush chair.

"So what's protocol with this kind of thing, because I for one just want to point out I require a healthy amount of time for showers." Raz fell against the mattress, and after a moment popped back up.

"I want this bed."

Sasha looked over to Milla for a moment, the two sharing a short conversation between themselves. The older woman then turned back towards the two teens and moved to sit down on the bed next to Razputin.

"Well, darlings, you have a choice; but it is not to be made lightly. We are going to put a lot of trust in you, but you must understand why."

Raz propped himself up and looked up at Milla; his expression now serious. Lili mirrored Raz's demeanor.

"We actually have two rooms for the four of us. The other room being connected to this one by that door over there." She indicated the door to which both the teens took note of.

"So, you and Lili have a room and Sasha and I share the other?" Raz pieced together.

"That is one option, as well as what would be the 'by-the-book' standard. However, Sasha and I discussed a particular matter when we were told you two would be joining us for this conference. We also discussed this with the Grand Head as well."

Raz and Lili spared a glance towards one another and then back to Milla.

"The other option is that you two may share the other room, but only under two conditions. The first being that we must be able to trust you one hundred percent to be on your best behavior. No silly business!"

Raz and Lili flushed slightly, pointedly not looking at one another.

"The other condition is that you both learn to feel and strengthen your mental bond with one another. You two have only been each others partner for a year. You might think your bond is strong, but trust me when I say it can and needs to be a lot stronger than it already is."

The two younger agents looked to one another then, and turned back to the older Psychonaut.

"How do we do that by sharing a room?" Raz asked in a both confused, yet intrigued way.

"Well, for starters, for one week you will see how each other lives a day to day life; routines and habits. You will also need to learn to feel the other personals psychic presence while in the room together; both awake and asleep."

"While we're asleep? How?" Lili questioned.

"It takes time, and a lot of care, but eventually as you go on missions, you will begin to pick up the psychic presence of one another, and it will follow you into sleep. This can eventually lead to an alert system of sorts. However, that's a much more complicated exercise than you need right now. This week is suppose to be nothing more than the conference, so it will give you a week to be around one another for longer periods of time."

The two teens grinned at one another then nodded in unison.

"Okay, so promise us you will focus on concentration, and no funny business, and I can help you set up the other room."

"Promise!" They both chorused.

"Wonderful! Now let's get you all unpacked." Milla stood up and retrieved the other set of keys from Sasha, who during this entire time had already set up his laptop, and unpacked most all of Milla's own luggage for her; having put it away already.

Milla was amused by this somewhat slightly out of character action by her partner, but let it be known she was thankful for his 'use of time efficiency', his words, not hers. She had taken notice of all the little extra things the man had been doing for her for the past month or so. Trivial as some might think they'd be, Milla herself found it all rather endearing. From finding a cup of coffee already on her desk, fixed exactly how she liked it no less, to finding a replenished stock of whatever item she'd made reference to that she was running out of; all somewhat random, all would be overlooked by anyone else.

Milla secretly felt doted upon… though not in the same sense most women would be, given chocolates and flowers and extra sappy things she both liked and didn't. That would make her believe something was very wrong with her partner. No; the things she'd noticed were all 'very him'. . . except for about three cases this month in which she'd gone over to his place. It was a common thing one of them would wind up at the others place when cases became paper load heavy. They'd work the files; order some kind of Chinese or pizza, and eventually call it a night.

This month they'd had three cases like that thus far. Nothing really crazy or insane… but the greatest, and most bewildering change was, that on each of those nights, they had not ordered take out or delivery.

The man had offered and followed through with cooking them dinner.

Sasha Nein. He cooked. For her.

She didn't even know he could make toast, much less an entire meal. The first time he'd offered to make a dish instead of ordering out, she'd been so caught up in the file that it took her a moment to process what he'd said. Further still, once it did register, she'd honestly thought he would simply throw together something like mac and cheese from a box.

Not freaking Fettuccine Alfredo.

To say she'd been floored was putting it lightly. She'd been too in awe to question this rather sudden switch up that she'd kept her questions at bay and just enjoyed the dish; wish had been fabulous.

The second time, it had been Lasagna, and at this point she couldn't help but ask everything she'd held back before. He'd merely given her a light smile and said something along the lines that if they were already eating 'junk food', it might as well be the best junk food they could eat. She kept pestering him about it, but he kept insisting it wasn't anything more than that, or that it was a better use of money.

The third time, he hadn't even asked her. No; he'd already _planned_ on it. She'd no more than taken two steps beyond his door and was hit in the face with a most delightful aroma. There was still an hour left before it was ready and it took all her will to concentrate on the files they had spread out on a small coffee table. When it was finally ready, she couldn't help but follow him into the kitchen.

The dish was called Sauerbraten.

He'd said his father and he had talked briefly about it during a conversation some months back. The recipe was suppose to have been his mother's own. It was the kind of dish you made in advance by days, not just hours.

Milla prodded him fervently, for days afterwards, as to why he was doing all this. Yet Sasha just kept giving her the same few, almost rehearsed responses. The man was a fortress, unyielding and unbending. It was driving her nuts and eventually she let it go. Though she did make the claim that she wanted to cook their meal the next time. He'd said he didn't care for spicy food. She'd let it go, though now that she was rehashing the whole thing over again, she started to think that perhaps the 'I don't care for spicy food' really meant 'If you can make something without using spicy ingredients, then by all means.'

Then again, all of this could have been exactly what her partner had been telling her from the beginning and she was reading too much into it.

As if looking for something she wanted to be there, but truly wasn't.

Milla gave a quiet sigh. Even now, over ten years together, and there was still a large part of the man that was very much a mystery to her. A part of him she felt she'd never see.

"You okay?" Came a small voice to her left.

Milla looked over to see Lili giving her a questioning look from the bed she'd picked as her own. Raz was slung over his own bed, as if he had passed out. She gave a quick glance about the room the kids would be staying in; seeing that it was pretty well set up now.

"Yes, darling. I was just thinking about some recent events. All good things, I promise." She gave the younger girl a smile.

"Mmm...'k. But just so you know, I'm just as good at, ya know, listening to stuff. Just, not anything overly girly though."

"You mean, like boys?"

Lili rolled her eyes.

"Boy are boys.. which means they're stupid."

"I heard that!" Was shouted from the other bed.

Lili leaned in towards the older woman.

"Why? Did Sasha do or say something dumb?" Lili grinned.

"Why would you think it would have to do with Sasha?" Milla rose an eyebrow.

"You immediately jumped to the topic of 'boys' when I mentioned girl stuff. Also, a duh; what _other_ guys do you know?"

Hmm. Touche.

"I think you two should get yourselves ready for the conference. We've only got an hour left, and I'm sure you two want to look your best." Milla smiles, getting up from the bed.

Lili regarded the other woman with a suspicious look before giving a sigh and a half roll of her eyes.

"Alright, but don't think you're off the hook! I want details!" The girl emphasized this as she tapped her pointer finger into the palm of her other hand.

"Details about what? A case?" Raz shot up from the other bed, having not really been paying too much attention.

"Girl stuff; forget it. Let's just get ready."

Raz shrugged, reluctantly sliding off the bed he'd claimed and moved away to find more formal attire. Lili did the same, giving Milla a small wave before the older psychonaut stepped out of the room through the shared door.

It gave a soft clicked as she closed it. For a moment she stood there, lost in her thoughts. She was a little glad this week was dedicated to nothing more than just a conference; and even more so that it was being held here in Sao Paul. The South American branch had only formed a few years ago; the European division beating it by at least three years, and the Asian branch by one.

She didn't know why, but lately she'd been feeling… something. Overworked? No, not that. Overwhelmed? By what, exactly? Anxious? Yes, a little, but why? Unfocused? Yes; she'd found herself losing a bit of focus lately; catching herself wandering off when she should have been concentrating on her work. Seems lately just seemed too much of the same. That's why all the little differences her partner seemed to be making were so phenomenal to her. It was so different from him; from his way of constant routine.

Was that it? Was she feeling stagnant? Was all of this… being a Psychonaut… becoming nothing more than a chore?

No; not at all. She loved being a Psychonaut. She couldn't imagine not being out on the field; chasing some crazed person for whatever reasons they wanted to take over/steal/ostracize whatever it was they picked as a target.

Yet, Milla felt like there was something missing from her life. She had a pretty good idea of what she thought it was; it was something she wanted very much. Yet the only way it could even be possible; the only way she could see it as probable…

Milla would have to give up being a Psychonaut.

"Is something wrong?"

The sudden question surprised her and Milla turned around with a graceful spin. Sasha was looking at her with a slight look of concern.

"No, darling. Why would there be something wrong?" She gave him a smile that didn't really reach her eyes.

"Aside from the fact you've been standing at the door for five minutes, during which time you've been completely silent?"

"I was merely thinking about something."

"That depressed you enough that even I felt it."

Milla's smile faltered a little. She moved away from the door and over to the closet. The various dresses she'd packed were already hung up. She thumbed through them, looking for something to wear to the conference.

"I guess I just have a lot on my mind, darling." She said quietly.

Milla stopped a moment on a dress before deciding upon it and taking it out. It was mostly blue, with touches of red, green and violet. It was one of the few dresses she had that wasn't as vibrant as most of her wardrobe; though still very colorful. Turning from the closet, Milla drifted towards a small dressed with an attached mirror; where her various accessories had been placed. She stopped short as she noticed something that wasn't there before.

It was a simple white box; small and thin.

Curiosity got the better of her and she gently picked up the little box, moving to sit on her bed. She carefully pried it open, revealing a set of earrings. Her eyes widened a bit. They weren't as flashy as her gold or silver hoops; nor were they elaborate like her segmented hook pairs.

They were subtle, yet beautiful.

Milla lifted one out of the box, and let the light reflect off it. It was a thin piece of rectangular glass about an inch long; smoothed and polished. Yet what impressed her was the color. It was half red and half blue; yet there was an almost swirl like effect from the colors mixing together. The other piece was the same, yet the pattern wasn't completely the same.

These were handcrafted pieces of glass.

"If you don't like them, you can-" Sasha began but was cut off.

"They're gorgeous."

Milla looked up; catching Sasha's gaze. She looked at him with curiosity.

"Did you make these?"

"Not entirely, no."

Milla rose an eyebrow at him. Sasha brought a hand up and brushed at his hair before he continued.

"Before the agency, back when I was still figuring out all I could do, I had a habit of finding pieces of glass and heating them enough to make them malleable. I basically turned glass shards into worry stones. After entering the agency, Ford thought it was a good idea I keep up the exercise. Eventually I got good enough to fuse two or more pieces of glass together."

Sasha leaned back a little in his seat.

"I found two pieces I'd worked on for some years, and took them to Agent Hoffer in R and D. I had him cut the pieces for me, and Agent Jenson knows how to make various kinds of jewelry, so she fitted the pieces. Now that I think back on it, Agent Jenson kept giving me this odd look..."

Milla couldn't help but smile at that.

"Maybe she was intrigued you were doing something so unlike yourself."

"Perhaps."

The was a moment of silence. Milla looked away from her partner and back to the pieces in her hand.

"Why?"

"Hm?"

"Why give me this gift?"

"Well, granted it is a day earlier than I had planned, but I thought you might enjoy wearing something new to the conference."

"A day earlier than what what, darling? What is tomorrow?"

Sasha paused, looking at Milla with a slightly troubled expression.

"Milla, have you honestly forgotten?"

Milla searched her mind to figure out what it was. Sasha looked a bit troubled that she didn't know what tomorrow was. She knew it would be a day off, knew it would be Tuesday, the date would be-

Her eyes shot open and a her hand clenched around the items she held; she stood up abruptly, gazing at herself in the mirror and realizing what it was. Yet now it all seemed to be making sense. The wandering thoughts, feeling stale, feeling like she was missing out.

Tomorrow was her birthday, and she'd completely forgotten.

However, remembering this fact didn't really help her mood. If anything, it only caused it to darken just a little more.

Tomorrow she'd be thirty.

Granted, thirty was still young and considered a peak age… but the thought of it all made her feel older than she was. She had many friends her age and younger who owned their own homes; were married and had children. Everytime she talked with her family over the phone, someone always brought up the topic. Teaching the children at Whispering Rock was becoming a little bit harder, for she'd eventually have to say goodbye to all of the little ones she'd gotten to know over the few precious months they stayed. There was a war waging on deep within her; one that wanted to stay where she was, and one that wanted to leave it and move on.

A movement in the mirror brought her back to reality, and after a second she felt something small and cool settle itself just below her collarbone. A soft yet reluctant sigh sounded behind her, just above her ear.

"I would rather have saved this piece for tomorrow, yet you seem stubbornly attached to whatever it is that's bothering you."

Milla touched the pendant to the necklace gently, staring at it in the mirror. It was unique, yet lovely. Same glass and style, but it had been shaped and welded in a very particular manner.

"I had a few random pieces and told Hoffer to put something together. His first idea was to cut it in the shape of a heart and I told him I found the idea incredibly tacky. A few more rounds and we settled on this."

Milla let her hand drop a moment and couldn't help the small grin that broke across her lips.

"Because everything with you, darling, has an angle."

Sasha gave a soft chuckle at her comment; appreciating the double entendre. Milla turned around to face him, and brought up her arms.

"Thank you. They are very lovely." She smiled as she hugged him.

"You're welcome."

And all of the world didn't matter anymore to her right now. At least, not for the next five seconds; which to her could have been five minutes, hours, days or more. Because during these moments, these few rare moments in which she could put her arms around this man, that wasn't tied to a mission for any reason, and hold her partner in earnest, were the moments she lived for. Knowing for these all too brief moments; feeling his arms around her; being this close to him, that she could be no where safer in the world.

Yet like any wonderfully good thing, it must eventually end.

Slowly Milla let her arms drop down; her hands moving away from his shoulders, and she pulled back a bit. Sasha mirrored her movements. However they both paused; catching each others gaze. Neither let go of the other.

Milla felt her heart racing, and wished she could still it as much as her breath had been. She didn't want to move an inch, didn't want to breath, nor bat an eye. She did not want to break this spell. Yet words fought their way passed her lips; quiet and soft.

"Thank you."

The words, soft and quiet, no more than left her lips when she felt a hand against her cheek, and a thumb under her chin.

"Of course." His words were just as quiet.

He leaned down a fraction; her eyes fluttered closed. He tilted her chin slightly up; she parted her lips. He felt her breath on his lips as she felt his breath on hers.

_KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK_

The spell broke and the world once again made its presence known to them both.

Sasha pulled away; letting his hand gently fall to his side, though he didn't break away from her hold; not yet.

"You should probably answer that."

"Yes, right."

Milla let her arms fall away from her partner, and she stepped away; moving towards the door in a haze. When she got to and opened the door, she held onto it, desperately trying to stop the shaking in her knees.

"Yes, Hello?" She spoke evenly.

"Ah, yes, hello! If you'll pardon the intrusion, my name is Frank Burmese; Psychonaut representative of the UK. You are Milla Vodello, yes?"

"Yes, darling, and this is my partner, Sasha Nein." Milla replied as Sasha appeared next to her.

"Oh, splendid, truly indeed! My cohorts and I would like to extend both of you an invitation to join us for a little pre-conference interlude; if that would be acceptable? We've been wanting to, for lack of better words, pick the brains of the US branch for some time now."

Milla gave a small smile and a glance towards her partner.

"I guess we could accept your invitation. What do you think, Sasha?"

"Hm, yes, I don't see why not. However, we would need to have Agent Aquato and Agent Zanotto accompany us, as they are also here as representatives and under our charge."

"Ah, well, alright then! I shall meet you all down in the lobby in say, ten minutes?"

"That's fine, darling. See you then."

With that, the portly Mr. Bermese gave a nod and shuffled off down the hall. Milla closed the door and turned towards Sasha, giving him a slightly curious look.

"Well that was rather random..." '_...and horribly well timed.' _Milla began.

"What do you think they want to talk about?"

"I'm not sure; though it could be something potentially worth listening to if they have any ideas on these attacks. Hmm, it might even be in relation to the research being done in France on the spring up of the rarer psychic abilities…" Sasha said, the last part being more directed to himself.

Milla pushed away from the door and seemed to glide over to her bed. She retrieved the dress she'd decided upon and turned towards the bathroom; pausing only long enough to address her partner.

"I'm going to finish up getting ready, darling. Why don't you go and let Razputin and Lili know about our little change in plans?"

"Right, very well. We'll meet you in the lobby in five?"

Milla gave her partner a smile and a nod and disappeared into the bathroom. The moment she closed the door behind her, she felt her body give way and leaned against the door for support. She brought her hand up to her face; two fingers tracing her lips.

What… what had just happened before? Had that really been real? Did they almost..?

Milla took a shaky breath, trying to still her rapidly beating heart. Her face felt warm too; no doubt a bit flushed. Oh of all the times to have been interrupted! Yet now was not the time to be thinking about this. Right now she needed to calm down, get ready for the conference, see what the UK reps wanted to talk about and then maybe do a little work the rest of the evening.

Tomorrow would be their first break, and the entire day would be free to do with what they pleased. Perhaps sometime tomorrow, towards the later evening, Milla could find a way to have Lili and Razputin occupied and she could then have time alone with Sasha to find out exactly what their little 'almost moment' was. Was it anything? Where would it have gone? Oh how she needed to put a lid on that thought. That was a dangerous thought. Still though. They'd need to talk about it sometime tomorrow.

"Yes. Tomorrow will be good." Milla said to herself.

She hoped tomorrow would be _very _good.

~ x ~

* * *

It's super later and I should been in bed hours ago, so I'll fix up the wonky spacing tomorrow sometime. Also, just realized Ive been misspelling Lili's last night. Will fix that later too. In the meantime, just enjoy the newest chappy!


	3. What of Dreams?

A/N: So onward! I don't own, blah blah...

* * *

~~~_The Greatest Desire~~~_

The hallway was quite as the lone individual briskly made his way towards his superior's office. The white florescence lighting brightened every corner and surface it touched; the walls and terrazzo floor already seeming to glow of their own accord. The entire facility was like this; stark white walls and floors. It was much like a hospital in that sense. Yet all this brightness did nothing but illuminate the less than shady research being conducted here.

Stopping at the last door at the end of the hall, the man gave a quick knock. A gruff reply sounded from beyond the door and the man let himself in.

"Doctor Monroe, Sir. I have the files you requested for Trial 16-72 R."

An elderly man turned his gaze towards the individual who addressed him. He didn't look like much; just a man somewhere in his fifties or so. Yet this man had a thirst; a thirst for knowledge. While that would seem like a wonderful thing to have, in this case, it was actually a rather nasty thing to have. This was a man who would do what was necessary for 'science and humanity' and not consider such things as moral values.

He believed them to be a burden.

"Ah, good, good. You have three separate case studies readied, yes?"

"Yes sir. In accordance to your requests, we've sectioned off rooms eight one for trial A, eight three for trial B and eight five for trial C."

"Have the programs been uploaded yet?"

"Yes sir. Each trial curriculum has been uploaded into each mainframe for all rooms. All that is required is your input key."

"Right, good. Once the key is accepted, download the programs from the mainframes into the Nexus Core."

"Sir."

There was a pause. Doctor Monroe rubbed his chin a moment, lost in some kind of internal rambling.

"I want Johnnson on point for trial A. Have him pull together a team of his choice. For trial B, I want Sydney and his team from the Arson-Hertz file. They should be done by now. As for trial C, I'll be overseeing the trial myself. I want you to run point.

The younger man looked shocked for a moment, fumbling his words as he spoke.

"Sir, ah, are you sure, I mean, I-I... I don't have a team, sir-"

"Well, then, you better get one. You've got the rest of the day. We've spent a week going over all the programs and candidates; setting up the arrangements for collection of our subjects. Everything is set in motion. These trials are scheduled to start tomorrow come hell or high water."

"Yes, sir."

With that, the doctor turned back towards the work on his desk, mulling about over some formula or equation. The younger scientist turned and walked out of the room, going over who he could put together as a team. Though he had no concerns over the fact that things would go off without a hitch, as they always had, it didn't stop the feeling of slight nervousness and nausea that always came when starting a new trial.

He wasn't really looking forward to tomorrow.

~~~xx~~~

Conferences, Raz decided, were boring as shit.

While he did not discredit them in the least for all they could potentially accomplish amongst various people of states and countries, he did conclude that they were the most boring damned things on the face of the planet.

You were pretty much forced to sit still for hours on end, listening to other people bitch about their problems, what they needed to fix said problems, and who they wanted to fix their problems for them. Though once they got past the 'what's wrong with my side of the world' segment, they moved on to something a little bit more interesting. Each branch starting pushing out numbers for funding what new projects they were working on and how 'revolutionary' said research and items would be to their cause. Only one or two items really catch his interest.

He swore he saw Sasha grinning like a madman. As calm, collected and controlled as the man made it his business to be, no one can hide the 'kid in a candy store' look.

After the 'begging for money' segment came another interesting part. Raz had no idea, but apparently agents could be bartered between branch agencies. Be it a swap of partners, or an actual bid via an auction, sure enough everyone was tossing names left and right; putting their votes and offers on paper.

_Everyone _wanted Sasha and Milla. A few branches just wanted either Sasha or Milla; if they couldn't have them both.

A branch or two even requested Razputin, himself. Raz had been blown back by that; never did he think he'd be that popular, or considered so highly. However, he knew the chances of being able to accept such an offer was null. It did seem the Agents in question were given the chance to accept or decline, though Raz figured it ultimately was left up to the head of their respective branches. He glanced over at Sasha and Milla, both talking to one another quietly, and just knew Sasha was going to say something along the lines of Raz being pulled off the table.

Before the older agent could, Raz had stood up and addressed the conference. When everyone focused on him, he felt incredibly nervous. When his name had been originally brought up, he could tell a lot of branches scoffed and glossed him over. He could also tell some of them were intrigued by him, but he figured they didn't bid because they didn't want to take the chance. The ones that did seemed to have a lot of faith in him.

He'd told them all we was very grateful, and felt honored to have even been considered, let alone tossed to a bid by those who would have liked him. However, he said he'd have to decline and opt out of being 'up for grabs'. He told them what they all wanted to hear, and for the most part it was true and he himself felt it to be so. He was still young, and he was still inexperienced in a lot of areas. He needed to have a lot more training, and a bunch more missions under his belt before he could even think about going to another country.

He also said he'd work hard and make himself a worthy enough agent to be bestowed the offer once he was of sound mind and sound body. He ended his little speech there. Even though a lot of people had seemed to regard him with little real interest, he'd felt a lot of positives coming at him from all across the table. Turning towards Milla, he saw her beaming at him with a smile and a shine to her eyes; as if saying to him that she was proud of him. Sasha had given him a nod... though of approval or dismissal, he wasn't sure.

The rest of the conference went on. They'd moved onto all the cases that had popped up this year; talked about what to do about the attacks happening in the country; and a bunch of random stuff Raz couldn't really recall.

When the conference was over, everyone seemed to let go of a breath they'd been holding. It was like trying to be on your best behavior, and finally being told you could relax after six hours. The group had all unanimously decided that food was required. They'd found a rather lovely restaurant and dined there. Raz picked at his dish; half was good, the other half he found he didn't care for. The others didn't seem to have much of a problem, and Raz noted this was probably the first time he'd seen Sasha actually eat something more than a salad, and also not something prepackaged. He found it amusing that every so often Milla would occasionally add one or two small things to the man's plate; to which he'd reluctantly accept.

Raz had been working with the pair for about four years now. Yet in all that time, he'd never really just watched them interact on a day to day basis. Sure, every so often he'd pick up on something; subtle or otherwise, that he'd file away to prod at later.

Did they know how they were portrayed in the comics? Raz doubted it. He also wondered.

Pulling a pen out of his pocket, he grabbed up his napkin and jotted something down on it, and nudged Lili's knee. She turned to him; fork in mouth, looking at him curiously. He handed her the napkin; to which at first she glared, but then her eyes widened on reading what was written.

_'Do you think Sahsa and Milla know how they're portrayed in True Psychic Tales?'_

Lili took his pen and scribbled something quickly onto the napkin; handing it back.

_'I doubt it. Neither has ever mentioned truly reading the comics. Besides, it's all hyped up that way for the ratings and drama; cause it's what everyone wants.'_

Raz nodded, then wrote back.

_'I haven't read the latest issue yet; haven't had much of a chance. Are they on again or off again?'_

_'It was left on a cliffhanger, so it could go either way.'_

After the four had finished dinner, they'd all gone back to the hotel. It was a bit late and Raz and Lili both felt a bit drained. However, the two girls had chatted a bit about what they could all do for tomorrow and brought it up to the boys. At one point, Milla had asked what they wanted to do. Raz had been about to throw out an idea, but shrank back against it when Sasha seemed to give him a look that told him otherwise. Milla caught it and playfully smack Sasha on the arm and encouraged Raz to continue. Hesitantly, the boy had said he thought it would be neat if they could have lunch at Ibirapuera Park. Milla beamed at the idea; making it their number one priority. The rest of the day would be filled with other fun and leisurely activities.

Once plans had been finalized, the two younger agents retired to bed. Milla had be right about going over some last minute paper work. There had been some new information given out during the conference and Sasha was eagerly adding in various notes to the case at hand. Milla had taken the time to make some jasmine tea using the small coffee pot provided in their room. She'd always enjoyed a warm cup of tea before bed, though as of late, she'd been making Sasha have a cup before bed as well; or at least sometime during the late evening.

"This might sound silly, considering the kind of mission this is, but I think I would actually enjoy a real vacation once we are done here." Milla spoke as she walked back towards her partner and his bed; manilla folders and papers scattered around him.

Sasha looked up, taking the offered cup of tea; his expression one of slight curiosity.

"Really?"

"It's been such a long time since either of us have been able to just... do nothing."

"Doing 'nothing' would give me a headache."

Milla smiled, humming musically.

"Well then, darling, I would do nothing and you could work on some silly project you've not had the chance to work on."

Sasha pulled the mug away from his lips and set it down gently on the night table next to the bed. He didn't respond immediately. It was as if he was locked in some kind of internal debate.

"There will be a lot of paperwork to finish up once we get back. Also, we have no idea what kind of cases have come up back at HQ for us to deal with. It might not be such a wise idea at this time."

He watched her as he spoke; could see her visibly dimming in brightness yet she still held her smile. She turned her gaze to the floor.

"You're right, darling. I think I just let the excitement get to me being here."

He waited purposely for a moment to pass before responding.

"However, you do have a point."

Milla looked up from the floor back to him, her expression curious.

"It has indeed been a while since either of us have had time to enjoy other pursuits."

He watched her as he spoke. She was still looking at him with curiosity, but a little bit of something else he couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Perhaps when we get back to Headquarters we may be entitled to have some down time. There is something I've been meaning to attend to that would require my full undivided attention. I'm sure any assignments could be redistributed."

"You're serious? You're sure?" Milla asked, looking at her partner in awe.

Sasha was not one to really enjoy taking vacations; oddly enough. No, he usually preferred to work and enjoyed the puzzles and challenges of every new case that was dropped into their laps. In all the time they'd been partnered, she'd never seen him take a real vacation; just the days off they normal got. She'd taken about two actual vacations herself but they'd been very short. Milla had refrained from taking many vacations she had wanted to take, if only for the reason that she didn't want to go to those wonderful places alone.

She'd wanted to go with him.

Sure, they already traveled the world together on missions. Yet that was completely different. He was in a frame of mind that wouldn't be shaken from the mission at hand. Yes, there were small moments that the man seemed to let himself 'get into character' or be in the moment but that's all it ever was; a quick moment. That and his attention was always divided; something she found both fascinating and frustrating.

"I'm quite serious, Agent Vodello. I can speak with Truman when we are finished here. I'll also handle all the paperwork for the requested time off so don't bother worrying about the details and let's just focus on our current task at hand."

Milla stared at her partner for a moment in shock for a moment before it was replaced by a barely contained excitement. Her emerald eyes seeming to shine just a little bright at the prospect.

Sasha fought himself a little to hold back the smirk that wanted to break across his face. He'd surprised her once again, and had as of late been keeping tabs of all the times he'd had done so. He found it rather amazing they could still surprise one another even after this long. At least, most of the time it was amazing; sometimes it could be slightly annoying and a little inconvenient; like the first time she'd surprised him on a mission and he'd nearly blown their cover.

Or like right now when his attention was ripped away from the file he was browsing as an excited exclamation of praise sounded off right before him followed by the woman tackling him with a rather strong embrace. She laughed at his disgruntled cry over the files being scattered about and falling to the floor.

~~xx~~

Ibirapuera Park was huge. Not only that, it was gorgeous. In importance to Sao Paul it was comparable to New York's Central Park. However, this park featured quite a number of activities and attractions within its boundaries.

The little group had gotten up early that morning; grabbing up all what was deemed needed for the day. This included the picnic lunch Milla had prepared for the group; to which they had all enjoyed while viewing the beautiful Japanese Pavilion. Following that Milla had told everyone, or rather demanded it since it was her day, to each pick out a place they wanted to go.

Lili had been the first to suggest they check out the Cicillo Matarazzo Pavilion so they could go to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Once they'd taken in all of the beauty to be found among its 4000 pieces (though of course they couldn't possibly see them all in a day; they could only choose one wing to pass through), Milla had proposed they visit the Grand Marquise and see the Modern Art Museum. This way the two younger agents would get to see the vast difference between the styles of Contemporary and Modern; and it was also a little bit for her partner as well. She knew his limited taste in the arts almost always leaned heavily in favor of modern. She felt pleased when she'd noticed the man seem a bit interested in a couple of pieces. Lili preferred the Contemporary, while Raz liked them both.

Next on their little adventure, Raz had said he was interested in seeing the Ibirapuera Auditorium and the Ginasio do Ibirapuera, but could pick between them. One was centered around music concerts and the other catered to sports; though had been know to have had concerted there as well; and by a number of very famous bands.

They ended up going to both; checking out the Ibirapuera Auditorium first, as it was currently not scheduled for a concert. It was an amazing piece of architecture; it was three parts, and was all angles and shapes. There was a solid red marquee that covered the main entrance that Raz thought was completely out of place, but totally cool. Milla told him it was referred to as the Labareda, which meant Flame.

Lastly, at Sasha's request, they visited the Planetarium. They had gotten there just in time to catch the viewing; watching as the the sky of Sao Paul was represent from dawn till dusk, and narrated by a professional astronomer. They had also learned a couple of outside facts, such as that this particular planetarium had been the first in the southern hemisphere; also that the projection machine used had been one of German design and engineered by the Zeiss corporation - well know for this sort of thing.

Once the viewing was over and the group had left, they all had unanimously decided food was in short order. Surprisingly, even after having done all of the activites everyone wanted to do, they still had the better part of the day. While Raz and Lili threw out ideas about what they were hungry for, or what might be worth trying, Milla was content to reflect on the day as a whole.

So far, it had been just wonderful.

All the lovely places they'd gone to, being here in Brazil, being with three of the most important people in her life...

She stole a glance at her partner; who was walking quietly content next to her; arms linked. It had not escaped her notice that Sasha had been particularly welcoming of her affections as of late; but today had been a true delight. Sasha had always made it a point to be courteous; some would say traditional; what with opening doors for her and pulling out her seat when attending some type of dinner - be it mission mode or after such things. While he still did all of this, these were not the things that had delighted her so (though they always did please her none the less).

It had been his closeness. His breach of normal boundaries. Small gestures, which would appear trifle to anyone else, were like the grand canyon to her. One such moment of this was back at the Contemporary Art Museum. Milla had been intently looking at a piece she found mesmerism; what with it's colorfulness and flow. She'd called her partner over to come see it, and due to it's placement on the wall, he'd had to bend down slightly as she was having to do. As he did this, she'd suddenly felt his hand on her right shoulder. For a moment she'd lost all train of thought about the painting, and could focus on nothing but the feeling of his hand.

He'd told her he wasn't too fond of the painting himself, but could understand why she was drawn to it. She'd grinned back and gave him the lightest of nudges against his shoulder with her own. He just returned her grin.

Another moment had been somewhat the reverse. At the Modern Art Museum it was Sasha who had been pulled away from the group by a rather striking esamble of stained glass. Once Milla had discovered he'd drifted off, she went to where he was gazing at said piece. As she settled next to him, he'd asked her what she saw. Her reply was simply 'Colored Glass'. He then took a step to the left, and had her move to the exact spot he'd just occupied. Once she did, she looked back at the piece and gave a surprised 'Oh!'

The light coming in from outside was bouncing off something reflective, and in turn, caused the mash of glass to suddenly seem to glow; each one having a trapped rainbow inside it. She'd been about to say something akin to how pretty she thought it was; yet the words died in her throat as he wrapped an arm around her waist; leaning in close and asking her . . . she didn't hear the question. She just nodded and gave a soft 'yes.' Something about the glass, of course. Exactly what? No clue.

From that point on, she'd looped her own arm with his and had yet to uncling herself from his side. He hadn't protested once, and further still, had at some point moved to hold her hand as well. Which was where her gaze was falling now; their arms entwined and fingers laced.

"You're unusually quiet."

Milla looked up, a tiny blush on her face.

"Just lost in thought, darling." She gave him a brilliant smile.

"About?"

"How completely wonderful today has been. Is. Will be."

"Will be?" Sasha could not in all honesty keep the smirk from breaking across his face.

"And what, pray tell, makes you so sure the day will continue this course of 'wonderful', Agent Vodello?"

Milla sing-songed a chuckle.

"Well. . . we are all about to have a lunch that I'm sure will please. Then perhaps a couple more evening activities that will no doubt be enjoyable. . ."

"Though that's not really it, is it? That's not _really _why you think the rest of this day _will be_ wonderful."

Milla eyed him; her eyes lighting up just ever so slightly. Was he. . .?

"Perhaps. Once Razputin and Lili are unto themselves for the evening. . . I'll need to go have a chat with someone."

"Someone?"

"A special someone, darling."

"Just for a chat?"

"In regards to something."

"Something?"

She paused, then gave a tiny small upon realization.

_They were flirting! He! With her! _

"An 'Almost' something."

"That. . ?"

"Is a thing, that almost was, but wasn't."

"I see."

"And I will see if that almost thing, could lead to a something."

"Well then; I suppose you'll have to tell me if your almost thing becomes a something when you get back?"

She gave him a look; but realized he was still teasing her when she saw his expression.

"Or maybe I could just talk to you about this thing?" Milla grinned coyly.

"You could, though I haven't a clue about what 'thing' you're wanting to talk about."

"Should I refresh your mind?"

"You should."

He wasn't seriously ignorant of what she was referring to; and she knew this well. Milla simply projected the thought; the imagine in her mind as clear as day. In response, she felt her partner's hand tighten gently in her grasp.

"Would you really want this 'almost' thing to become a something?"

Milla felt her smile drop away, and the words rushed past her lips before she had a chance to think; to stop them.

"More than anything in the world, darling."

As soon as she'd said the words, she'd almost regretted it. The look on her partner's face had gone from playfully coy to serious at her words. She opened her mouth to say something, anything, but no words sought to aid her. Yet she didn't need them as the woman suddenly found herself being embraced. On instinct she returned the affection; wrapping her arms around his strong yet slender frame.

This wasn't, yet was, new. Milla had hugged Sasha a number of times before. Most of the time it was after a rather death defying mission, or a particular holiday event. Though she always gave hers with a warmth of affection; she never really got the feeling returned from her partner. At least not in the same way. There was an acceptance. Like the equivalent of a handshake or pat on the back.

This was so much more. This held a warmth and affection Milla thought she'd only ever feel from the man in her dreams. It was raw and pure and not being held back by any walls. It was intoxicating and a little overwhelming; and she could not stop herself from reveling in it.

"Then perhaps we should talk." He spoke softly into her ear.

Milla felt as if her heart stopped a moment as her face and ears burned.

"Yes. I would like that." She replied softly.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she just could not stop herself from pulling herself just that bit much closer in his embrace; couldn't help the desire to gently nudge her face against his neck; breath in his scent...

"As inviting and encouraging as this is, I'd rather us not have an audience."

Milla broke from her trance at Sahsa's voice. She pulled back from the embrace a little; glancing towards where Lili and Razputin had run off only to see the two of them waving their arms and calling out to them. She felt her face and ears heat up again upon realizing they were standing in a rather public place. Though it wasn't due to embarrassment. Quite the opposite in fact. The flush to her face was more the result that Sasha had willingly started this slight PDA and had only called attention to it when the two younger members of their group deemed their attention necessary.

"Shall we... finish our conversation later, darling?"

Sasha didn't say anything; he merely offered her a warm smile and a gentle nod. She replied with her own smile. Her eyes were filled with a brightness he'd not seen out of her in a long time. Milla began to step backwards a few paces, effectively breaking the embrace, yet she was still holding onto his hand. For a few paces, she pulled him forward, to which he let himself be lead. Finally, as if granting him a little mercy to his 'professional dignity', she let go of his hand.

Milla turned towards the two younger agents, picking up her pace a little. She was thirty as of this day, yet she felt as if she was eighteen again. She felt giddy and silly and didn't care how she looked. As she caught up with the actual teens, she danced right past them, tossing out over she shoulder that they shouldn't just be standing around; though this was said with a laugh. The teens just protested and began to follow in hot pursuit. Milla simply laughed a little more at their antics. She was the first to the door of the building that Raz and Lili had specified, and as if she hadn't even stopped, threw open the door to be meet with-

Silence.

Pure, utter, silence.

For one entire moment, the entire world had not a single sound.

Complete absolute silence.

And then. . .

The soft sound of a wind chime could be heard.

Milla looked up with a start; feeling as if for one second she was falling. Yet, this wasn't the case. She had simply missed the last step and...

The gentle breeze of the wind caressed her face.

There was the sound of birds in the distance, the sound of the chimes, the breeze...

Milla stared out at the vast landscape that lay before her. This wasn't right... hadn't she been about to go into a building? Yet, instead, she stood outside of one. One that she recognized almost immediately, yet this time, it was so much more... detailed; more realistic.

It was the backdrop she used in her dreams. The large mountain scape, the lush green rolling hills. Had she fallen asleep and just couldn't remember? Was she that tired? She highly doubted it and she couldn't remember...

She turned away from the landscape to look behind her, and found herself face to face with another familiar sight. It was a house. It was an old one, yet it was well cared for. She could see the various patchworks of repair scattered about.

Carefully, with a little caution, Milla moved towards the house; stepping up onto the front porch and stopping short at the door. She felt she should be somewhat alarmed it was open, however, curiosity won out. She stepped past the threshold and stopped some few steps inside.

"Hello?"

There was no response to her inquiry. It appeared the house was currently empty.

A sudden aroma pulled her thoughts away from how empty the house was, and she instead focused on how warm and inviting it all felt. Milla followed the aroma to what she assumed was the kitchen. Discovering she was right, Milla found a pot on the stove cooking away... cooking something impossible.

Not caring that the owner of the house might come in any second and demand what Milla was doing, the Brazilian turned the heat off, pulled the pan off the burner and moved it to a cold eye. Carefully, she lifted the lid. The aroma was overwhelming and spicy, but there was no doubting it. This was one of her mother's recipes. One she'd made over a dozen times with her mother, and a dozen times more after she'd left home. It was an old family recipe that no one else by right should know.

How on earth?

Milla replaced the lid on the pot; her concern growing a bit more. Someone had to be around if food was being prepared, right?

Stepping out of the kitchen, Milla made her way towards the very large central living room. No one was here, either, and she was beginning to accept that she wouldn't find anyone else here. As she looked about the room, she rested her hands on the back of a large couch. It was facing a rather nice looking TV set with all it's usual accompaniments one would find with such things.

Next to this was a rather impressive fireplace; beautifully put together with various stones. She was finding it amazing how easily this house blended its old original style with the modest touches of modern architecture incorporated throughout.

Above the fireplace was a mantle, and she could see various framed pictures displayed, yet the way the sun was hitting them from the window behind her, she couldn't see the images well enough. There were also plaques mounted on the wall; important documents with stamps of approval and very fine print.

From this distance, she couldn't read them, but they brought her a sense of pride and warmth. In fact, if she was completely honest, she'd had that feeling the moment she set foot into this house.

There was a mystery here and it was more exciting, more compelling, than the mystery of how exactly she had ended up here. While that would normally be a very dangerous line of thinking, Milla was a smart woman and trusted her instincts. She felt no threats of danger; felt no hostile intent. It was quite the opposite. Everything felt welcoming and safe.

Her gaze moved away from the mantle to sweep across the rest of the room. The usual to be found met her gaze from bookshelves, hung pictures, and she found herself now focusing on the small end table two feet from her left. A lamp, a magazine, mail, an ashtray...

Milla frowned and made a curt sighing huff through her nose.

She pulled away from the couch, letting her hands drag across the soft material. Something lightly scratched her palm and she casually looked to inspect it.

Her movement and breath stopped all at once; as if she'd just run into an invisible wall. She was just now noticing the fact that she was not wearing her white gloves. This whole time she'd been touching items and feeling the warmth of the air on her hands, and she hadn't even noticed. . .

Yet that wasn't what was causing her heart to pick up it's pace. It was the silver of metal she caught sight of. Left hand; fourth finger; resting at the base of that finger as if it had been there forever. She hadn't even felt it. Carefully, shakily, as if turning her hand over would cause it to disappear, Milla gave an audible gasp as her initial assumption was proven true.

It was a ring. A simple, yet beautiful ring. It housed her birthstone as its centerpiece, with two small diamonds set below each side. The band itself even had some design to it.

What was going on here?

Milla didn't have time to reflect further than that when she heard a voice from outside. It sounded like someone laughing. A young girl, at that. Perhaps she could help figure this all out. The woman turned and headed outside at once, moving down the porch and around the side of the house. She'd been right that it had been a young girl causing the commotion and felt relief upon seeing she was not alone here.

Yet she stopped dead in her tracks when the girl's face came into full view. The relief she'd had a moment for now flaring into confusion, anxiety, disbelief and trepidation.

There was no way. . .

And as if to add to the fact that, yes, there was a way, she finally took notice of the young boy sitting next to the girl. The girl's expression was full of cheer and she was laughing at something while the boy looked bored and unimpressed.

Yet there was no denying the fact that she knew them. She had known them forever. She had dreamed of them.

The girl suddenly looked up and smiled at Milla brightly; pushing herself off the ground she had been sitting upon. She bounded over towards the woman; little robe dress and long ebony locks billowing behind her. Milla could do nothing as the girl shot towards her, and was suddenly there, next to her, grabbing her hand in her smaller two.

"Is lunch ready yet? Please say yes, I'm so hungry!" The girl begged.

The youths bright green eyes pierced the fog that Milla was finding herself stuck in. She gave the child a nervous smile.

"Y-yes, sweetheart. It is."

The girl gave a shout of triumph and with great determination began to pull Milla towards the house. Milla let herself be drug along, yet turned back towards where the boy was.

Or... had been. Huh?

She turned back around to see him standing on the porch already. Same emotionless expression.

When did he...?

Milla rubbed at her forehead, trying to make heads or tails of everything going on around her. She felt as if she was having a war within herself, that wasn't much of one. The larger part of herself was willing to accept what she saw around her and willing to believe this a wonderful dream she was having; most likely because she probably let herself go and had too much to drink or. . .

She felt her face burn.

Could that have possibly happened? Had she been in a position to have had drunk so much, or had something happened to cause her to forget entirely what she'd been doing before finding herself in this dream world?

Is that why she felt so inclined to just go with it? To squash the little nagging voice in her head that said something was amiss?

Milla shook her head and decided to think about it a little later. The first thing right now that matter to her most, more than figuring out where she was or why she was here, was that there were two children seeking her attention. Well, one child seeking her attention and one very quite one.

Milla turned her gaze to the boy; studying him. He was a bit shorter than the girl. He had the same ebony locks of hair, yet it was short and shaggy and a large sweep of it completely covered his left eye. The boy turned towards her then, as if knowing she was staring at him. She gave him a small smile to which he looked down and away from.

Most people would probably be concerned by this lack of visible emotion, but for some reason, Milla wasn't too surprised by this. She then turned towards the girl who was happily humming some tune, moving about the kitchen and helping to set the table.

Milla gave a genuine smile at this. It was rather darling. She couldn't help but just stand there and watch as the girl went back and forth (and with a slight assist of levitation at that) from the cabinet to the table taking with her a plate and fork each time until there were four place settings.

Four?

Milla pursed her lips a bit and was about to ask the girl why she'd set a fourth plate down when the girl suddenly lit up and bounded away from the table and past Milla herself.

"Daddy!"

"Hey there, Pumpkin."

_That voice. _A voice filled with a warmth Milla had only heard from _that man _seven times in her entire life of knowing him.

It felt as if her heart suddenly dropped to her stomach. A cold shiver ran through her that ended up feeling like a jolt of electricity.

She did not want to turn around; could not turn to look at him. He was not suppose to be here. This was _her _sanctuary, _her _private, most deepest of all desires that she held so close to her heart. At least, that's what this place was shaping up to be, and if that was so she didn't want to turn around.

What would he say? What would he think? Would he be angry with her? Would he consider this entire _fantasy_ childish? Would he think it could negatively affect their partnership? Would he think her as nothing more than a woman bound by her most basic emotions and desires?

She was afraid. So afraid. These were the reasons the years grew between them in which she kept her silence. These were the reasons why she never spoke of her feelings, her thoughts, her wants. These reasons kept her at bay because she could not let go of the fact and had come to knowledge the fact that she, Milla Vodello, was and has been in love with her partner Sasha Nein for a long, long time.

She-could-not-turn-around. If she did it would make all of this too real; too hard for her to handle.

Yet the urge to turn was overwhelming; overpowering, and unable to truly fight against it, she felt herself shift. Slowly, ever carefully; gaze kept to the floor. She screamed at herself to just stop; to run from all of this. She could not possibly be here, in this house, with these people.

_Her family._

It was a dream. It was all a dream. A whim, a desire, a fantasy, for herself and herself alone and she felt it was about to go up in metaphorical flames and she would lose the one thing that mattered more to her in this entire silly world.

Finally she stopped. Eyes wide. Breath held. Not a movement to be made.

Sheer will-power prevented her from looking up.

However, will power only effected one's own self and thus did not influence what others did. She'd not accounted for this. Thus when he moved over to her and lifted her head up to meet his gaze, Milla gave an audible gasp.

And everything was solidifying.  
And everything was becoming real.  
And everything was telling her it was okay.  
And everything-

The warmth of the smile he gave her broke every train of thought she was having, causing her mind to blank.

"Sa-"

She didn't get any further in his name, as he silenced her with a kiss.

And something insider her broke.

And as her arms fell to her sides while her legs dared give way; as her eyes fluttered closed and she let go of the tears she'd been holding at bay; as her resistance to this dream began to fade away with the day...

Milla accepted her fate.

~~xx~~

Chaos, panic and disorder had descended upon the few square blocks central to their location. It had come from no where, with no warning what so ever. One moment it had been peaceful, calm and the air had carried with it a feeling of timid joy.

Now all of that was gone, and the timid joy had warped into rabid fear. The calm had been upheaval to mass panic, and nothing was peaceful right now.

Smoke covered everything and covered everyone, and anyone breathing it was staggering about with no sense of direction or control. It assaulted the lungs and diluted the mind. Up was down and left was right and it suddenly occurred to him what this was like.

It felt like being on the receiving end of a confusion grenade. Yet this didn't have any psychic traces connected to it. No; this was a factor made thing that somehow worked the same. Somehow someone had developed it into an actual useable weapon without the need for a psychic or the ability.

His eyes watered, and it was only then that he remembered-

'_Duh! I've got goggles on my head! How 'bout we actually use them!'_

Raz wiped at his eyes and quickly shoved the red lensed protective wear over his eyes. Though he was still a bit dizzy and trying to correctly process his cardinal directions, at least now he could see.

His gaze swept over to the nearest form next to him, which was Lili. She had her shield up, but it looked a bit smaller than normal. Perhaps she was just trying to keep up her energy and not exert herself too much. His gaze drifted from her knowing she was alright. He could see the forms of various people either on the ground or staggering. Some were trying to run, others just sat and cried.

Finally, a familiar unmoving form caught his attention.

Sasha Nein was low to the ground, but unmoving. Raz was concerned for his mentor, but assured himself that the man was already well aware of the effects of ... whatever this smoke was, and was probably trying to regain his balance as Raz was himself.

Raz attempted to call out to him, but choked and coughed a bit when he did so. The smoke was too thick still and the breeze wasn't blowing it away fast enough.

_'Sasha! Can you hear me?!'_

Raz saw Sasha look up towards his direction, but only slightly.

_'Yes, Agent Aquato, I can hear you. What is your status?'_

_'I can see, but I'm having difficulty moving.'_

_'Seems your choice of visual aesthetics has come in rather handy once again.'_

Raz grinned.

_'You should totally get a pair.'_

_'Not my style. Do you have an assessment?'_

Raz paused a moment, but figured he might as well tell the man his thoughts.

_'It's almost as if we were all caught in a confusion grenade. Yet the thing is, I don't feel any psychic signature connected to it at all. It's as if it was like a regular type of grenade.'_

_'Very good; I came to the same conclusion myself. It is indeed a bit baffling to know someone could have created a weapon with technology that has come from the basis of psychic power.'_

Raz turned back around towards where Lili was; or at least had been. His heart began to beat faster, trying to find her in the thick haze until he spotted her by the entrance of the building they'd been about to enter. She was leaning against the door; shield still active. Seeing she was okay, he let himself relax. Turning back to the older agent, Raz called out.

_'How do we get rid of all the smoke?'_

For a long moment, silence was his only answer, and Raz began to worry that something was wrong with Sasha. However, that was not the case, and the man replied to his question with his own.

_'Can you clearly see the spire like object to the left?'_

Raz looked for what Sasha was referring to and found it. It looked like some sort of weird crazy sculpture on top of some antique shop's entrance way.

_'Yeah, I see it. What about it?'_

_'Do you think you can reach it with your telekinesis?'_

_'Yes..I can't pick it up though, it's bolted on.'_

_'That's fine; I need to you bend it at a forty five degree angle.'_

_'. . . That's oddly specific, but I'll give it a go.'_

Raz began to concentrate on the object, attempting to do as the man had ask. It was hard, and the structure was tough, but eventually Raz felt it giving way to his mental manhandling. After about fifteen minutes, Raz had it bent into shape.

_'Got it!'_

_'Good; now when I tell you too, I'll need you to use pyrokinesis above your position.'_

_'The hell are you going to drop on me?!'_

_'Nothing; you'll be setting this smoke on fire.'_

Raz gaped and shook his head.

_'Bullshit!'_

_'Razputin!'_

_'You're asking me to SET FIRE to BITS OF AIR!'_

_'You will be using your pyrokinesis without a target. So instead of focusing on one particular thing, you will be focusing on the area for which you wish the fire to blaze.'_

_'This is not a good time for me to learn this advanced kind of shit! I've been bugging you all summer for extra training!' _

_'Consider this your crash course.'_

Raz huffed and muttered a few choice words, before readying himself. So this was going to be...different.

Suddenly, there was an earsplitting grinding noise; low and deep, followed by a whooshing of wind. The smoke began to whirl and move and swirl around until it was being lifted away; yet it looked somewhat contained. Odd.

"NOW!"

Raz jerked his arm up and aimed at the mass of smoke that suddenly decided it wanted to rejoin the people on the ground. Not letting it have the chance, Raz concentrated and thought: _'Fire!'_

At once, the smoke caught flame and just as quickly as it ignited, it was gone.

The air was clear, and it was no longer hard to move. Raz looked around at the people; who seemed to be regaining some sort of control now. He stole a glance back over to the sculpture thing he bent and saw it now looked like a weirdly crude fan.

Raz flopped back onto the ground. His upside down gaze seeing Lili still by the door of the building; only her back was facing him and she was bent over. Her shield was no longer in place. A shadow fell over him and he look up to see Sasha standing above him.

"I'd say for a first try, you did exceptionally well."

Raz grumbled, and pointed accusingly at the older man.

"You owe me."

"We'll see."

Sasha grabbed hold of the boys wrist and helped him to his feet. The youth began to dust himself off and Sasha turned his gaze towards Lili's form. She was bent over by the door to the building they'd been about to enter. She wasn't moving and that had him a little concerned. He swept his gaze across the area; taking in the minimal looking damages and the people. Most of them seemed fine; it didn't seem like anyone needed medical care.

Yet something was wrong.

Scanning the area, he felt his jaw clench as he noticed a very distinct lack of vivid colors.

"Raz! Sasha!"

Lili's abrupt shout caught their attention and both made their way towards the girl. She began to stand as they neared and once they'd reached her position, they could see she was holding something. It was causing the normally placid young girl a great deal of alarm. Her hands unfurled and she extended her arms.

In her hands was a single white glove.

Raz stood shocked, sudden panic danced behind his eyes.

Sasha didn't move; at least not for a moment, until he turned sharply and lifted a hand.

For a moment the two younger agents held their breath; waiting for whatever it was Sasha was doing to tell them which way to go or what to do.

When he jarred from his position; an almost inaudible gasp had escaped him. He could not sense her anywhere, could not reach her mind, nor feel her psychic signature.

Milla Vodello was gone.

~ x ~

* * *

And there we have chappy three. Hope you enjoyed.


	4. State of Affairs

Sorry for the delay and the shortness of this chapter.

* * *

_Deepest Desire ~ Ch. 4_

* * *

The room was abuzz with activity thought it was a quite one. The only noises to be heard were the taps of keys on the nine stations set up in the small room. There was also the hum of the ever present computer core off in the far corner. If you were exceptionally good at hearing, you might even be able to hear the various beeps from the machines on the other side of the large viewing glass.

His hear had failed some time ago, but he could hear the echos of those beeps.

He stared at the patient laying in the bed beyond the thick glass. Her vitals were all in the green; her brainwave activity was within acceptable levels and her mental capacity was quite stable for one who'd suffered a particularly nasty trauma. Scar tissue of the brain told the most amazing stories.

"Sir, Dr. Johnson has sent his first report to your mailbox for review. Dr. Sydney expects his results will be delivered to you by eighteen hundred hours."

"Very good, very good. And the report for our patient here?"

"Ah, twenty hundred, hours, sir. Withholding..."

Dr. Monroe's eyes narrowed a little.

"Withholding what, Dr. Andrews?"

Dr. Andrews swallowed, and began to explain.

"Ah, there ah, seems to be a rather... unique brain wave pattern that none of our team has been able to match on file. It doesn't seem to be affecting the trial in any way outside our normal parameters but-"

"But what?"

"Ah, some of, the team has, ah, an idea of what it could. . .indicate; based on evidence given so far from the recordings of programs A5, B6, and R4."

The older doctor waited for the man to continue.

"Ah, well, ahm... the patient has shown to ah... have... abilities; which are being broadcasted through the programs and showing up in the bio-renders."

"What kind of abilities, Dr. Andrews?" Monroe sounded bored; as if he was indulging in the mans excuse for why he hadn't finished his homework on time.

"Ah. . .most prolific is... ah, the ability to ... almost fly; though it seems more like floating? I believe it's referred to as Levitation? Another is what appears to be Telekinesis."

"Telepathy?"

"Uhm, well there's a few segments in which, it's thought Telepathy might be in use. Ah, periods in which the patient is interacting with the Bio-renders in which there is not talking observed; but brainwaves indicate patterns of speech."

"So are you trying to tell me, Andrews?"

"My team and I feel-believe... the patient could be...a psychic."

Monroe was quite for a moment. He looked stern. His hands folded behind him. He was cool and calculated as he stared at the woman beyond the glass.

"And you said this wasn't impeding the trial?"

"Ah, no, not at all, Sir. In fact, it's kept the patient that much more connected."

"Have Dr. Isaow set up a console; I'm adding him in to the team. I'll have him monitor all and every abnormal brainwave pattern picked up for the remainder of the trial. I want your team to begin recording everything. Every single detail. Turn on the back up programs; and use the command re-write key i-ninteynine. Set all parameters to max and allow for a negative three degrees error curve."

"Yes, sir."

"One more thing. What is the patients immersion status?"

"At the last check in time, the patient's immersion status was ninety two percent."

"Interesting. Very interesting."

"There still seems to be a bit of flux; and brainwave activity indicates there is still a bit of resistance."

"They always do; but they always accept in the end. Very well; begin the new adjustments."

"Yes, sir."

Dr. Andrews turned away and walked out of the room. Monroe stood a moment before turning his head slightly to the right.

"Dr. Niles."

"Yes, sir." A woman spoke from behind him at one of the consoles.

"Please increase all vital sedation and medications by ... ten cc's for now."

"Should I inject the new volume now sir?"

"If you would."

"Yes, sir."

The old man turned back towards the glass. The room opposite this glass wasn't as big as the one he stood in, but it was large enough for it's purpose.

Inside this room there were a few large machines. Two sat next to a wheeled bed. On one side was a machine that recorded vital signs and brainwave activities. On the other side sat an even larger machine; hooked up with tubes and wires and monitors indicating the levels of the four different vials of liquid it held. These vials were connected to tubes that rand down, then up, then to the patient.

Four needles connected to these tubes were currently embedded in the patients right arm. They were held there in place by medical tape. In the patients left arm were just two; pumping a clear liquid into the patient at all times.

Other implements had also been placed as well; and a few additional items were sitting on a small table ready to be used when the appropriate time was deemed.

In short, it looked like a hospital one would find in hell. Or a really cheesy science fiction movie.

Turning away from the glass observation window, Dr Monroe made his way out of the room; addressing everyone in it before he left.

"Make sure our guest here is kept under lock and key with twenty-four hour surveillance. Also, all evidence, indications, ideas and recordings are to be encrypted with a level four security key that I will issue personally each day. No one outside of this room will know about our patient's . . . hidden talents. Undertsood?"

The room chanted a serious of 'Yes, Sir's before he strode out the door. Walking briskly down the hall towards his office, his mind was racing with a few new ideas for some extra programs. Of course it was easy to add in additional programs to the study when they started; but the problems that arose were that those programs needed to pertain to the trial at had, and not be influence by bias judgements.

Monroe sighed, cursing his luck. Oh how he wished he'd had this patient for a trial worthy of what she was capable of, instead of this mundane lark. Yet that gave him an idea.

Once he'd reached his office and entered it without delay, he bee lined towards his desk and picked up his phone. He dialed a number as fast as he could, and waited for the line to be picked up.

"Ah, yes, Mr. DaMoore, it's Dr. Monroe. I'm calling to ask if I may make a very extreme request. It's not something we've done before, but that's why I'm calling."

"Yes, what is it?"

"I have a patient in a trial who shows great potential that I feel is being wasted. Tell me; how many trials can I send her through?"

~~xx~~

"Antonio Capellino. Italian Male, late thirties, dark brown hair, green eyes, tan complexion, has a healed over scar just under his left eye; two centimeters long. Last seen wearing a brown hoodie, no logos; black pants and white and grey sneakers."

A pause.

"Nikki Sumaki. Japanese American Woman, early twenties, black hair, brown eyes, light complexion, pierced ears; two on the left, four on the right. Last seen wearing a blue and orange blouse with the phrase 'Gator Girl'."

Another pause; a little longer this time.

"Milla Vodello-"

"Wait, what?!"

"Brazilian American Woman, thirty, dark brown hair; long, green eyes, bronzed skin, pierced ears... with the gaudiest pair of earrings you can image, but they work; last seen wearing what was left of the seventies."

"Seriously?"

"You heard me, Agent Riggs. Those are the names and descriptions of the three people missing from the area since the attack."

"Yeah, I got that, but what the hell; Agent Vodello? How does that happen?"

"If I knew the answer to that question, Agent, I'd not be bothering to report her absence, for there would be no need for it."

"Okay, shit, 'M sorry. I'll get this on the Board ASAP; transferring you to GrandHead Zanotto now, sir."

"Thank you."

Sasha Nein grit his teeth, letting out a long and frustrated sigh through his nose. Some people had absolutely no tact when dealing with delicate matters. Further more, he could tell that just about everything right now was putting him on edge. While his outward composure and demeanor seemed to not be affected in the least, he knew this bothering him greatly, and he didn't care for it at all.

"Truman speaking."

"Sir, this is Agent Nein."

"Ah, hell, this can't be good. Anytime I get a phone call from you, Nein, things go to hell in a hand basket. I can't send you two anywhere, anymore. This was suppose to be an easy, no hassle deal. It's like Australia all over again; I send you and Vodello there to drop off a package and you call me telling me about a madman and his army of psychic bees-"

"Sir, I'm aware-"

"Psychic Bees; Nein. For a goddamn glorified mail run!"

"Sir, I can understand the frustrations; believe me, but right now the matter at hand is urgent."

"Hold on; getting a print up from the Bulletin."

There was a long pause before the man on the other end spoke up.

"Son; I don't pretend to understand how the hell you two get yourselves caught up in the situations you do, but I do expect you to take care of this thing, and fast."

"With all due respect, Sir, this isn't like anytime before that this has occurred."

"Yeah, shouldn't it have been you this time?"

Sasha halted in his pacing; an expression of confusion across his face.

"Beg your pardon, Sir?"

"This whole cat and mouse routine you two always fall in. One of you always get caught and the other always has to bail you out. Last time is was Vodello being held above, what a pit of sharks with lasers, or something?"

"That's largely exaggerated."

Sasha frowned, but remembered their last case. They'd had to track down some locally known crazy man who showed signs of being able to wield Aquakinesis. Upon finding him, he'd managed to temporarily separate them; and Milla had in fact been tied up and suspended. Yet she was hardly in any real danger.

An above ground pool filled with quarter sized pet store piranha did not strike fear into the hearts of man.

Milla had a field day with it; playing to the crazy man's twisted sense of logic. It'd taken them a total of ten minutes to thwart their target; and another five minutes because Milla had insisted he 'rescue her properly.'

But the man on the other end of the line did have a weird sort of point. While it wasn't all the time; Sasha did come to realize they did often get split appart; with someone ending up the 'gallant hero' - Milla's words, not his.

"Look, whatever, just get this mess taken care of."

"Sir, It will not be as easy as you think. I can't feel-"

Sasha's voice momentarily failed him; and he covered his little hiccup by clearing his throat.

"I can't reach Agent Vodello's mind. There's no trace of her pattern anywhere within our radius. She is simply gone, Sir. Her mind's gone dark."

There was a long pause on the end of the line; a steady breath being let go, and the reply was a bit more serious this time around.

"See if you can't have the South American branch assist you in this; being it is one of their issues right now, and in their jurisdiction. I'll see if I can't spare a specialist for you in the meantime."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Very well; now get to it."

The line clicked, and Sasha hung up his own phone; putting the cellular device back into his pocket. He stood still; scanning the area upon which was around him. His mind was in a bit of a controlled chaos. It was divided; focused and not. Professional and Irrational.

He cursed to himself and focused intently on the cold ground below his feet. He knew something of this nature would happen. That he would finally allow himself some freedoms; some peace of mind, and just a little bit of happiness. Yet it was like the world was throwing all of that back in his face; mocking his careful ability to deconstruct his walls he held so in check; as if telling him he didn't deserve to be happy, and that he was flawed for having tried.  
However, for the first time in his life, the force pushing against him didn't make him throw up his walls again; nor reenforce his mind to not let anything or anyone in. No, instead, it just made him angry; made him look up to the heavens and shout out in his mind 'Fuck you; I'm my own goddamn man!'

"I. . ah. . never doubted that you weren't?"

Sasha turned sharply to his left; surprised at the sudden response next to him. His gaze fell upon a very confused and slightly distraught Razputin.

"Wanna talk about it?" The boy ventured.

"Agent Aquato, pardon. I didn't realize that had been...broadcasted so strongly."

"S'ok. I was trying to see if I couldn't pick up anything. . .suspicious; you know? Maybe I was prodding a bit too hard? Eheh."

"No, it is good for you to be so meticulous. Has it revealed anything useful?"

"No; not at all. All I did learn was that the woman over there-" Raz pointed to a woman across the street.

"She's got some kind of rash; the guy three feet over is worried about his dog; that shifty looking guy on the sidewalk there is actually a big softy and feeds the local stray cats; those two little brats hanging off that woman there stole some cookies from the vendor lady over there-"

"I get it, nothing useful."

"Wait!"

Sasha watched as the boy spun, focusing on a teen playing with his phone.

"Him! He was taking a picture of the sculptures in the park there!"

Sasha looked to the teenager with the phone, the sculptures, then back to Razputin with a confused look.

"He's freaking out about his pictures. Why would he unless he caught something? A lot of these people were taking pictures with their phones at the time of the attack. Maybe someone caught something useful!"

Sasha's expression shifted from the confusion of before to one of surprise and intrigue.

"You have once again proven yourself to have an intellect that far exceeds expectations. Expanding on that idea, we need to check all nearby security cameras and traffic cameras in the area. Have Agent Zanotto help you gather up all the people here and examine each of their phone's pictures and video recordings. I'll talk with each of the store owners here and review their security tapes before heading into the city."

"Right; we'll do that right away." Raz began to turn and take charge, moving into full on Psychonaut mode; yet the boy stopped a moment and looked to his mentor.

"Hey Sasha?"

"Yes?"

"I'm worried about Milla...but she's pretty strong. Do you think she's alright?"

Sasha looked away a moment, digging into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. He took one out, lit it and put the rest away before replying.

"I believe Agent Vodello to be strong, as you say, and resourceful. If there is any helping it, then yes, I do feel she is capable of take care of herself. However, due to the fact there is no trace of her psychic signature, we need to handle this case with extreme force."

He took a drag and exhaled.

"I honestly don't know the state of her condition since I can't reach her mind."

_'And that bothers me greatly.'_

Razputin nodded, and stood up straight.

"We'll solve this case, and get everyone back. After all, I am the kidnapping specialist, aren't I?"

Sasha gave the boy a slight grin and a nod, before the youth turned and took off towards were Lili was; talking to the teen with the phone he saw earlier.

The older Psychonaut began to make his way to the nearest building of this location; his mind going over what procedures he's need to take, who to call, what time he had available to himself... and Milla's current state of health. He knew he shouldn't let it bother him; he hadn't lied when he said he felt she was strong and resourceful.

Yet he couldn't help but wonder if she was truly okay. Was she perhaps just tied up and knocked out? Or was she awake and being tortured in some barbaric way? He didn't know, which left part of his mind to wonder what unspeakable evils were befalling his partner as they worked to find her.

~~xx~~

The sword swung down, and came to a halt just before her neck.

"Any last words, you monster?"

"Won't you please have mercy?"

The sword lifted slightly and the wielder of the weapon looked at the older woman like she was mad.

"Mercy?! You ask me. . .Mercy is forgiveness, right?"

"Yes; I'm asking for your forgiveness."

"How could you ask such a thing! You kidnapped the Prince!"

The wielder of the sword pointed towards where said prince was 'being held'.

"I am sorry, but I was lonely and wanted a friend. Please do not hurt me, oh mighty Princess Knight!"

Said Princess Knight, whom of which was currently pinning the evil monster down by sitting on her, squinted her eyes a little, as if calling the woman's words 'bull'.

"But it's wrong to take people away! And you can't just go and do that. Besides, he's my brother! Look at how sad he is!"

The two looked at said Prince, who sat upon a bed leaning against a wall. He didn't look so much sad, as more interested in the handheld game he was staring intently at. A small handmade crown rested on his head.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone sad. I just wanted a friend to talk to." Said the 'monster'.

"Well. . .I guess I can't kill you for wanting friends. That wouldn't be cool. But you have to give me back my brother!"

"Very well, you may have him back."

The girl cheered and got up off the woman she sat and jumped onto the bed.

"And for your... goodness, I shall let you live at our castle where you always have friends and never be lonely!"

"What a wonderful gift! Thank you so much Princess Knight!"

The creature arose, and without warning, tackled the princess knight in a hug; before both burst out laughing; falling back onto the bed. Once the laughing and giggles had subsided, the room fell into a peaceful quite.

"Mama?" The little girl looked up at the woman.

"Yes, Mellina?" Milla looked to the girl currently in her arms.

"Can I marry a prince when I grow up?"

"Sweetheart, you can marry a prince, or who ever you want when you grow up; so long as they love and respect you."

"Is that why you married Daddy?"

"That and so much more, darling."

Mellina pushed herself up a little, half climbing onto Milla's side. She looked as if she was thinking hard about something.

"Mama, how did you and Daddy meet?"

Milla smiled and shifted herself up as well; moving the little girl with her to her lap.

"Well... it started with Mama being very sad and very sick."

"You were sick?" Mellina's bright eye grew round with worry.

At this point, the boy, who'd been sitting against the wall on the bed, looked up from his game; pulling the little crown off his head. Though his expression was blank, he seemed interested in hearing the story.

"Yes. I had lost some very important people to me, and so I became very sad and very sick. I was found by the Psychonauts, and they brought me to a special place to help get me better."

Both children were now looking at her with unwavering interest. The boy had crept to her side without her notice.

"I was in this special place for a long time; and one day, I met someone new. He said he had seen me when I first came to the place, but had been...too busy to say hello. So we talked for a while. From that day on, he would stop by everyday and talk."

There was a smile growing on Mellina's face.

"One day, the man who was running the place came and talked to me about our special abilities. He told me he could help train me to use them better. So I let him train me. After a while, I was told I would be given a partner."

"And Daddy became your partner!"

Milla smiled widely.

"Yes; though your Daddy was a very stubborn boy and didn't want a partner. Not at first. But he eventually learned I was the right match for him."

As Milla said this, her gaze drifted towards the door of the room. Said 'stubborn boy' was leaning against the door frame of the room, arms crossed. She felt her heart flutter a little and she turned back to Mellina.

"Why don't you and your brother go wash up while Daddy and I get dinner ready."

"'Kay." The girl smiled and moved to shuffle off the bed, followed by the boy.

As they passed by their father, the man bent down a little; whispering something into Mellina's ear. She suddenly lit up like a firework and nodded quickly with glee and bounced off. The boy didn't seem phased by whatever had been said. Instead he just walked on casually, but not without his hair being ruffed lightly.

Milla stood up from the bed and made her way towards her partner.

"You know, I recall you being a bit stubborn yourself." He spoke with a grin.

"No where near as stubborn as you, darling. Out of everyone I met who I could have been partnered with, you were the one I wanted."

"I know; which was one of the reasons I eventually caved to the idea of having a partner again. That and the threat of being removed as an agent."

Milla grinned, which became a smile as she pulled close; wrapping her arms around his waist. Instantly, his arms were around her and pulling her just that much closer. She gave a soft sigh of pure content, basking in this feeling as she had before. Some moments passed by before Milla pulled away and began to move from the doorway into the hall.

"I'm going to start dinner. I was thinking-"

She didn't get much further down the hall before she felt herself being tugged gently back by her extended arm, suddenly finding herself being picked up.

"Sasha! Darling, what are you doing? Dinner-"

"Dinner can wait."

Milla pouted, but was secretly enjoying the attention. She decided not to protest and simply let the man carry her off. Her mind wandered to the few times she had been carried like this due to some mission mishap. Though during those times, Sasha was usually muttering about how her choice of footwear was questionable.

Milla was pulled out of her memories when she heard the sound of a door closing behind them and she was suddenly sitting upon a bed. Looking around the room; she took notice that this was a bedroom and from the looks of it, it was theirs.

Milla's eyes widened a bit and she felt her heart begin to beat faster. She watched as her partner moved away from her only long enough to close up the blinds to the windows and draw the currents down; effectively making the room rather dark.

Rather sensual as well.

She watched as he then turned back to her; his glasses no longer adorned upon his face. It sent a sudden shiver down her spine; for the look he was giving her was complete undeniable lust. The effect that look was having on her was unbearable. Her breath hitched and her heart was pounding in her ears. Her throat was dry and her palms were sweaty.

Suddenly, he was next to her; moving against her. His lips found hers and she moaned pleasantly. She felt nervous, yet calm...

At least, until one of his hands fondled her breast.

Milla gasped; pulling back a little. Was this really happening? Why did she feel so nervous about doing this? Why did it feel so new?

No, of course there had been intimacy; they had children. Proof enough in that alone. Besides that; there was no way they could have been together for this long without... just no way. Not on her part, anyway.

Why was she allowing herself to stall? If she was completely one hundred percent honest with herself...

She wanted him. She wanted him here and now. She had wanted this for so very long... at least that's how it felt. Was this really okay?

And as if to answer her question, Sasha gave a low, almost growl like noise and recaptured the Brazillian's lips and deepened the kiss further; while gently pushing the woman further onto the bed.

Milla let herself give into his kiss, and obeyed his urgings. She was in no position to fight against him, nor could she. No. Instead, she let herself be overpowered by him; for this was the only man she'd trust with such power; the only man who had earned that privilege.

Thus, Milla let this man overtake her with the most intimate and passionate of dances any lovers would know.

* * *

Short chappy is short. :/ Sorry bout that. Will try to make the next one longer.


End file.
